Slow start costs Paloma Valley in playoff loss, 49-40

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Paloma Valley High fell behind in the first half, made a strong run at the opposition in the fourth quarter, but ended up losing to visiting Camarillo 49-40 Wednesday night in the second round of the CIF Division 1 girls basketball playoffs.

Things didn’t look good for the Wildcats when they fell behind 15-9 at the end of the first quarter, then scored just three points in the second quarter for a 27-12 halftime deficit. Camarillo maintained the lead around 15 points heading into the fourth quarter, when an aggressive Paloma Valley attack cut the deficit to five points with about 3:30 remaining.

The Wildcats outscored Camarillo 10-2 during that stretch. Christianna Hawkins started the streak with a jump shot and Jada Tiggett (left) sank two free throws following a Camarillo turnover. A moment later, Ashlee Medrano sank three-point shots both before and after a Camarillo layup, cutting the lead to 41-36 and bringing the fans to their feet.

The Wildcat offense stalled at that point, however, and they were reduced to intentionally fouling to stop the clock in the last minute-plus.

“We just didn’t do a really good job executing offensively in the first half,” said coach Matt Dale. “I don’t know what it was; I don’t want to attribute it to anything other than we just didn’t execute. We weren’t getting good looks; we scored 12 points in the first half, which isn’t good.

“The defense was awesome the whole game. To be in the position we were at halftime and to battle back the way we did in the second half is something they should be proud of, physically and mentally.”

Medrano scored 14 points to lead the scorers for Paloma Valley, which finished the season with a 12-6 record.