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Queens of Clutch: Sage Hill Rallies Past San Joaquin Memorial in CIF State Division II final
Sage Hill girls' basketball wins first state championship in School history.
With its flair for the dramatic, the Sage Hill School girls’ basketball team was never out of a game.
Almost nothing went right for the Lightning offensively in the first half, but by digging in defensively, a team of destiny ensured that it had a chance in the closing moments again.
Emily Eadie scored the go-ahead layup with 27 seconds remaining, capping a record-setting season for Sage Hill with a 51-47 win over Fresno San Joaquin Memorial in the CIF State Division II final on Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Sage Hill (27-10) rallied from a 13-point second-quarter deficit to claim the first state title in school history.
A mid-range jumper by Kat Righeimer with 11 seconds left in the first quarter gave Sage Hill its first lead of 6-5. The Lightning would not lead again until Eadie made a layup at the end of a second-chance opportunity earned by Annabelle Spotts with 1:03 left in the game to make it 46-45.
Malaysia Williams banked in a floater off the glass on the next possession for San Joaquin Memorial (27-7), retaking a one-point lead.
As it had on two prior occasions in the Southern California regional playoffs, Sage Hill came up with an answer in the clutch, taking the lead inside the final minute. Coming out of a timeout, Eadie received the inbounds pass at the top of the key and drove the left side of the lane for the eventual game-winning bucket.
“The first thing you’ve got to do is just get the ball in,” Eadie said of the game-winning play in a postgame interview. “I knew that they were going to press right here because Isabel [Gomez] can shoot threes — making them all game. I knew that was going to be open, so I went with my gut, and it worked out.”
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Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.