Paloma girls beat rival Heritage in a close one, 55-53

Paloma Valley's Ashlee Medrano led all scorers with 25 points on Tuesday. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Paloma Valley High girls basketball team defeated the crosstown rival Heritage Patriots 55-53 Tuesday night.

With 1:48 left on the clock, Paloma (now 7-1) was up by four and Heritage (6-1) had the ball. The Patriots missed two shots in a row then Sophia Gordon got fouled going for a rebound, which resulted in her making one of two foul shots.

Soon after, a basket by Sierra Maxwell of Heritage had the Patriots within just one point with Paloma getting possession. The Wildcats held the ball through several fouls, then got into a bonus situation with just under three seconds to go and Gina Misiaita at the line.

Misiaita made one of her shots and gave her team a two-point lead. Maxwell got the inbound pass and got to half-court to throw up a Hail Mary, but it wasn’t enough and the buzzer sounded for a Paloma victory.

Although she was nearly at a double-double with 18 points and 9 steals, Maxwell wasn’t shooting close to her regular performances, according to head coach Deanna Meijer.

“Sierra just wasn’t shooting as well and that’s tough, but somebody else has got to step up when that happens,” she said. “We missed a lot of layups that we usually make. We rely on everybody. I’m confident in everybody on my team, but tonight they didn’t play with that confidence.”

On the other side of the court, the Wildcats were playing with just a seven-player roster, all of which contributed at least one statistic to the win, which is something head coach Gabriel Flores said is what he appreciates about this year’s squad.

“Everyone that participated did their job. We didn’t leave anyone on the bench the whole game,” Flores said. “This is a fantastic group of young ladies.”

Leading that group with 25 points on the night was Ashlee Medrano, followed by Misiaita’s 12 points and Mianna Bravo’s 11. The Wildcats had a total of 32 boards, compared to the Patriots’ 19.

Overall, Misiaita said the win was a team effort they had been looking forward to since they saw their schedule a few months back.

“Beating Heritage has been on my mind the whole season,” she said. “People had doubts in the team because we don’t have the same talent we had last year, but the connection is stronger and all you need is a connection. The team has chemistry and I’m so glad my team played a great game and we got to beat our rival.”

The game started out strong for the Patriots, who finished the first quarter with a 15-9 lead, thanks, in part, to a strong start from Maxwell.

But the Wildcats fought back and had their first lead just before halftime and had the game tied at the end the second and third quarters.

The fourth quarter was when Heritage committed the bulk of their turnovers on the night and Paloma was not slow to take advantage of that. They also capitalized on second-chance points thanks to the performance from Misiaita, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds on the night -- half of which were offensive.

The double-double was the only one on the night, but it wasn’t exactly in Misiaita’s plans.

“Coach puts me in and tells me my job is to rebound, rebound, rebound,” Misiaita said. “And I’m gonna go do what my coach asks me to do because I want to stay in the game.”

Paloma, now 7-1, will face Xavier Prep in an away game Thursday night. Heritage, now 6-1, will host Kearny High at home Friday night.

Heritage's Sierra Maxwell finished with 18 points and 9 steals. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

 The Wildcats' Gina Misiaita passes the ball in traffic during Tuesday's game. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

 

Mariah Logan of the Patriots puts up a jump shot Tuesday night. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

 LaNiyah Jordan shoots over a defender during the rivalry game. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)