Carpinteria sophomore Tori Kelley led the Warriors with eight points on Thursday.
Britt Hall’s 23 points led Paraclete over Carpinteria 52-30 on Thursday in the first round of the CIF Division 4A playoffs.
The Spirits led start to finish but had to fight off a Warrior rally in the second half. Carpinteria cut a 16-point lead down to eight early in the fourth quarter after scoring 16 points in the third quarter (Carpinteria scored 14 points in the other three quarters combined).
Paraclete responded by wisely slowing down its offense in the final quarter and stalled the Warriors’ momentum. A three-pointer from the corner by Megan Valencia pushed the lead back to 13 followed by another 3-pointer by Hall.
“Unfortunately I still think we need to learn how to play in the CIF competition without too many of the jitters,” said Warriors head coach Dan Mercer. “It was great having a home crowd but I think we were a little nervous at the beginning.
“I just have to tip my hat to Paraclete. They’re physically a much stronger team than I thought they would be.”
Mercer noted that his team, with all but three seniors returning next season, didn’t shoot the ball as well as it did during the regular season. The Warriors won the Frontier League championship.
Paraclete finished in fifth place in its league standings but the Spirits compete in the demanding Gold Coast League with Sierra Canyon, a team ranked No. 16 in all of California according to Maxpreps. The schedule prepared the Spirits well for the playoffs.
Head coach Moby Oliver said he liked seeing his team play aggressively in the first half and credited the Carpinteria with coming back to make it interesting.
“The game was a lot closer than the score showed,” Oliver said. “We’re just fortunate to get the win and I’m pleased because these girls have worked so hard.”
Paraclete earns a shot at the Division’s top seed Fairmont Prep in the second round on Saturday.
The Warriors finish their season with a 14-9 record. They return all but three seniors for next year’s team. Tori Kelley led the Warriors in scoring throughout the season and did it again on Thursday with eight points. Maddie Cleek scored seven and Monique Sanchez added six.
“I’m losing three great seniors,” Mercer said. “But after that everybody could be back and the girls who are coming back play huge minutes. So we’ll be back in this environment again.”
Carpinteria’s Maddie Cleek gets set for a jump shot in front of Paraclete defender Michaela Reese.
