Dos Pueblos’ girls basketball team reached Saturday’s Gold Coast Tournament championship game because of its defense, as the Chargers allowed the fewest points in the North Division after a 78-43 victory on Friday night over St. Joseph.
“I was told before the game that we had to hold the team to under 45 to make the championship game,” said Chargers head coach Jelani Hicks. “It didn’t matter how much we scored or how much we beat them by, we just needed to hold them under 45.”
St. Joseph got to 43 points with six minutes to play but Dos Pueblos hunkered down and held the Knights scoreless the rest of the way. The Chargers were able to foul out St. Joseph’s top two scorers to help limit the Knights down the stretch.
“We just played solid, old-fashioned defense. It was a whole team effort,” Hicks said.
The Chargers (6-1) have now won six straight after losing their season opener. Dos Pueblos had five players in double-figure scoring.
Kristen Gowdy’s 19 points and 14 rebounds led the way, with Jessica Escalante collecting 13 points, five assists, five steals, and four rebounds. Talitha Draper provided 16 points and six rebounds off the bench.
At one point in the fourth quarter, with St. Joseph stuck on 43, Chiara DiMarco came from no where to block a layup from the Knights that would have kept the Chargers out of the title game.
“It was the most stressful 30-point game I’ve ever experienced,” Hicks said.
Saturday’s championship game is at San Marcos at 7 p.m. with Dos Pueblos meeting Chaminade.
