The deepest run of any East Union basketball team in school history ended Saturday night, as the Lancers fell to the Menlo-Atherton Bears 68-38 at the Dalben Center in Division III Northern California Regional semifinal action.
“I told the girls after the game that in sports, there is always a winner and a loser, and tonight, we happened to be the loser,” East Union head coach Jim Agostini said. “But losing tonight does not diminish what this team has been able to accomplish, and they should hang their heads proudly.”
The second=seeded Lancers (28-7) advanced to the semifinals after home wins over Los Altos and West Campus, setting up the showdown with the 11-seed Menlo-Atherton (24-5), winners of the Central Coast Section Division I title.
“We’ve been here in the state tournament a lot recently, and you learn to never look at the number next to a team,” Agostini said. “We knew they were a really good team coming in here, and credit to them, they jumped on us from the start.”
Menlo-Atherton made things difficult on the Lancers with their length for much of the contest. After scoring the opening basket to take a 2-0 lead, the Lancers would go 14 minutes of game time without making a field goal. Every drive to the basket was contested, and East Union struggled to get shots to fall.
Luckily for the Lancers, Menlo-Atherton started slow shooting, as well, and the two teams went into the first intermission with the Bears leading 10-5.
The slow start shooting for Menlo-Atherton quickly turned around in the second quarter, as the Bears poured in five of their eight 3-pointers to help propel a 20-1 run that saw them take control of the game, while the Lanncers went cold offensively.
Senior Luisa Tava (17 points) scored three of her five from deep during the run while Bears leading scorer Lita Fakapelea got going herself, scoring 10 of her 21 points during the stretch that saw the Menlo-Atherton lead balloon to 30-6. The Bears would take a 34-16 lead into halftime.
“Credit to them, they got really hot there in the second quarter,” Agostini said. “Shots weren’t falling for us and started falling for them, and before you know it, it snowballs and the lead is what it was.”
Menlo-Atherton would prove that its 24-point second quarter was no fluke, as the Bears scored 21 in the third to grow the lead to 33 at its largest. The teams would go into the final intermission with the visitors leading 55-26.
Both coaches pulled starters throughout the fourth quarter, and when the final whistle blew Menlo-Atherton punched its ticket to a NorCal final next week.
Like they were all season, the Lancers were led offensively by its trio of senior standouts, Ava Barrera (15 points) Zyondupree Beasley (nine points) and Shebra Rezaye (six points).
Coach Agostini recognized the contributions of his senior class after the game.
“Those girls have had a huge impact on this program for the last four years,” he said. “I reminded each one of them that there are banners hung up in here that would not have been possible without them.”
For the seven-time defending Valley Oak League champion Lancers, it’s a time for reflection before coach Agostini and his staff try to put together yet another run next year.
“We have a great group of girls that will be back next year, and I cant wait to see how they can continue building upon what we’ve done here,” Agostini said.
