U-Prep girls basketball beats West Valley for section title: 3 keys to Panthers' win
The U-Prep girls basketball team erased a six-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, using the hot hand of sophomore Aubrey Caudell to spark the 26-5 Panthers to a 57-41 win over West Valley (23-8) in the Northern Section Division IV title game Saturday at Shasta College.
Caudell hit two of her five 3-pointers in the fourth period on her way to 18 points on the night. U-Prep junior Joanna Warren had a game-high 21 for the Panthers.
Kayla Wiley led West Valley with 15 points while Rainessa Matthews and Emily Huddleston each chipped in eight.
The Panthers won the rubber match of the season series as the two split their Northern Athletic League meetings.
Here are three keys to U-Prep’s win over West Valley
Super soph
Caudell said she came into Saturday’s game unfazed and ready to contribute, having adjusted to the different environment of the Shasta College gym in the pregame shootaround.
“I felt good coming into the game because we took extra time in pregame,” she said.
In the first period, she hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to give U-Prep a 9-5 lead with less than two minutes left in the period. She hit her second triple from the top of the key with 5:20 left in the second period for an 18-11 Panthers edge.
After West Valley used a 16-3 run to close out the half, Caudell helped the Panthers claw back within striking distance with five straight points toward the end of the third quarter. She canned a right-corner 3-ball and then picked the pocket of a West Valley ball handler and took it back for a fast-break layup to tie the game at 31 with 1:40 left in the period.
“No. 3 made a number of key shots. She stepped up in the moment,” West Valley coach Leah Nichols said.
Heading into the fourth, West Valley clung to a 39-33 lead, but Caudell struck again to open the period hitting a 3-pointer from the right corner off an assist from Warren.
“She (Caudell) was the difference in the game,” U-Prep coach Steven Schuster said. “Joanna Warren is the best player on the court, but without her (Caudell), things could’ve been different.”
Caudell’s fifth trey cut the lead to 45-44 with 3:13 left before Warren stole a pass and took it coast-to-coast for a Eurostep layup and a 46-45 lead, an advantage the Panthers wouldn’t relinquish.
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Slow starts
Playing in the bigger Shasta College gym can sometimes cause problems for players used to small courts and different shooting backgrounds.
That seemed to be the case Saturday as both teams started slow, combining for 18 points in the first period.
“We didn’t shoot well in the first quarter and started to get better in the second,” West Valley coach Leah Nichols said. “It was an adjustment for the girls with the three separate 3-point lines.”
A fourth-quarter statement
The Panthers grabbed their second section title in three years with a decisive fourth-quarter run.
Trailing by six, U-Prep outscored West Valley 18-8 over the final eight minutes, limiting the Eagles to a single field goal over the final three minutes of the game.
Warren, who averages more than 25 points per game, had eight points in the quarter on a runner in the lane, a right-corner trey, the Eurostep layup and a free throw at the end to ice the victory.
The Panthers also got a huge 3-pointer from Maddy Rossman off a Warren assist at the end of the shot clock near the two-minute mark of the period.
“We’ve got five or six kids who can shoot,” Schuster said.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: U-Prep girls basketball beats West Valley for section title
