Wildcats do it all in 64-47 victory for CIF basketball title

Players and coaches on the Paloma Valley High School girls basketball team celebrate their CIF-SS championship. Staff photos by Doug Spoon

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Everything that could go right did go right for the Paloma Valley Wildcats on Saturday – and the result was a CIF Southern Section championship.

The Wildcats came in with an effective game plan, executed it well and got contributions from virtually everyone on the roster, leading from start to finish in a 64-47 victory over Ontario Christian in the CIF-SS Division 4AA girls basketball finals. It was the program’s first CIF title and just the third CIF team title in Paloma Valley history.

Junior guard Mya Pierfax had a monster game for Paloma, scoring a career-high 37 points – 24 of those coming in the second half. The Wildcats dominated in the rebounding department, holding a 54-28 advantage overall. They also held a 25-10 edge in offensive rebounds, resulting in several possessions of three or four chances to score.

Perhaps most noteworthy was the job Paloma Valley did defensively on freshman guard Chloe Briggs, who came in averaging 34.9 points per game for Ontario Christian. Using tenacious defense on Briggs by Sydney Woodley and constant double teams, the Wildcats held Briggs scoreless in the first quarter, to just 7 points in the first half, and 24 points for the game. That was just the fourth time all season Briggs was held under 25 points.

Sydney Woodley played tough defense against Ontario Christian scoring star Chloe Briggs.

It was truly a team effort for the Wildcats, who improved their season record to 30-3. They will begin the Southern Region portion of the CIF State tournament on Tuesday. Their opponent, game location and time will be announced on Sunday.

“I think the girls did an awesome job preparing this week,” said Wildcats coach Matt Dale. “Their focus was great. They had a really good understanding of what the game plan was. They battled and they did it.”

Dale couldn’t say enough about the defensive job his players did on Briggs, plus their domination in rebounds.

“Chloe Briggs is unbelievable,” he said. She’s the best freshman I’ve seen in my 20 years of coaching. We did everything we could to make the game tough for her. At the same time, we didn’t discount ourselves. We knew we had a good team and they were going to have to stop us, too.

“We just didn’t want her to have 40. We figured we’d throw double teams at her all night and get the ball out of her hands, make her work to get it back. In no sense did we expect her to go for zero. No matter what we do, she’s going to make some tough 3s, she’s going to make some great drives. I think we succeeded in making her night hard, so she couldn’t feel comfortable at any point of the game. And we also took care of [Madeline Martinez]; we didn’t let her have catch and threes.”

The key player in the Wildcats’ defensive effort against Briggs was Woodley. The 5-foot-10 junior covered Briggs aggressively all game, using her long arms and wide stance to frustrate the freshman.

“We gave Sydney the toughest assignment,” Dale said. “Chloe is so great, but I think Sydney is great. I was excited about that matchup. She did an awesome job handling that load all game, even with a little foul trouble early. She was relentless. I couldn’t have asked any more of her.

“We also gave Sydney help whenever we could. We wouldn’t double team off [Martinez], because she’s a great shooter. Off of those other girls, we would send in double teams on Briggs. Most of the time it was Trinitee [Bradley], because we would double off the ball coming in from out of bounds.”

Martinez, a sophomore guard averaging 14.6 points per game for the Knights, was held to 4 points. As a team, the Knights shot just 33 percent from the floor. That was the same percentage as the Wildcats, but Paloma Valley’s edge in rebounding – especially on the offensive boards -- made a huge difference.

“That’s a huge part of their game,” Ontario Christian coach Matt Tumambing said about the Wildcats’ offensive rebounding. “We watched I think seven different films of them. We talked about it all week. If we lose the rebounding battle, we lose the game.

“It’s just their tenacity to get the rebounds. That’s who they are. Rebound, putback, rebound, foul. Rebound, kickout, three.”

Tumambing was also impressed by the play of Pierfax (left), who constantly was on the move in the second half, hitting outside shots, driving to the hoop and drawing fouls. Pierfax shot 50 percent from the floor (10 for 20), including four 3-pointers. She also was 13 of 16 at the free throw line.

“I’ve seen teams box and one her, sit in a zone, double team her,” Tumambing said. “ I thought we did a great job in the first half containing her. But everybody else chipped in for them. She’s crafty, she can shoot mid-range, shoot the 3.”

Paloma Valley took a 5-0 lead to start the game and never looked back. The Wildcats led 12-4 after a layup by Pierfax forced a Knights timeout with 2:31 left in the first quarter. Wildcats guard Breeann Willich twice gave her team 12-point leads with 3-point baskets early in the second quarter. By the time Briggs scored her first basket midway through the period, the Knights were still down by 10.

Paloma Valley led by 10 (29-19) at halftime, enjoying a 14-3 edge in offensive rebounding. The closest Ontario Christian got in the second half was eight points (37-29).

Senior Isabella Villegas and Pierfax led the Wildcats with 11 rebounds each. Woodley and Bradley each had 9. Willich finished with 10 points and Woodley scored eight.

Briggs was the only player to score in double figures for Ontario Christian, which is now 29-3 overall.

Dale gave a lot of credit to Villegas and Leslie Giles, the only two seniors on the team. They have played key roles for the Wildcats all four years of Dale’s tenure on the job – including a 6-20 season two years ago.

“Both players’ roles have changed the entire four years,” Dale said about Villegas and Giles. “They have handled that with a tremendous amount of grace. Those girls to me are the heartbeat of our team. They have allowed young girls to come in, not let egos get in the way, and helped everyone pull together.”

"Going from 6 wins to now really changed how I feel toward my teammates,” Villegas said. “Once Mya came, I was excited for her to come in and give us more players to help us out.

“Now that we’ve won CIF, we’re going to be more hungry in state.”

“I was really motivated,” Pierfax said. “I’ve never been in this situation, and I really wanted to win. I’ve never had a game like this.”

Wildcat players and coaches react to the final horn signalling their CIF-SS championship Saturday.