Page One

The St. Mary’s High girls’ basketball team took a 20-point lead in the second half against McKinleyville on Tuesday night in Berkeley, then survived foul trouble and a late push by the visiting Panthers to hold on for a 56-48 win in the first round of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs. 

McKinleyville narrowed the St. Mary’s lead to just two points on a putback by Kali Wunner that made the score 47-45 with three minutes left in the game. But St. Mary’s freshman guard Natty Fripp scored on two consecutive drives to give her team some space, and McKinleyville never got within striking distance of the lead again. 

St. Mary’s (21-8) moved on to play BSAL rival Kennedy (Richmond) on Thursday in the second round. Kennedy beat the Panthers twice this season, including a comeback win in the league championship game. Thursday’s game will be at Kennedy High at 7:30 p.m. 

Tuesday’s game looked to be an easy win for St. Mary’s until the fourth quarter. The home side was in foul trouble all night, and starters Heidi Spurgeon and Kamaiya Warren both fouled out within a minute of each other, with Warren earning a technical foul for exhibiting her frustration with several questionable calls. 

“I got very angry,” Warren said. “I don’t know what was going on. Maybe the refs didn’t want us to win.” 

St. Mary’s other starters all had four fouls when the game ended. All the fouls sent McKinleyville (20-10) to the line 35 times, but they couldn’t capitalize, making only 14 of their free throws. 

“We played an ugly game, and we fouled them more than was necessary,” St. Mary’s head coach Don Lawson said. “I had to rely on some young players to play a lot of minutes.” 

St. Mary’s still had a 10-point lead when Warren fouled out, but McKinleyville guards Kaitlinn Solinsky and Danielle Hux hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then Wunner’s putback got them within a shot of the lead. 

“I was just praying the best team would win,” Warren said of watching the attempted comeback from the bench. 

The Panthers have one day of practice to get ready for third-seeded Kennedy, a tall task. Deidra Chatman, Kennedy’s 6-foot-6 center, will be a tough matchup for Warren and freshman forward Shantrell Sneed. Chatman scored 20 points in last weekend’s BSAL championship, which the Eagles won 59-54 after trailing by as much as 13 points in the first half. 

“All I can do is play my best defense,” Warren said. “If I do that I’ll be okay, and I think we’ll do fine.” 

Kennedy will likely be without the services of second-leading scorer Rashonda Abercrombia, who showed up at Tuesday’s game at St. Mary’s on crutches. 

“I think we have a very good shot at beating (Kennedy),” Lawson said. “The sheer factor that we played them so close last time gives us a chance.”