AUBURN — Olivia Vezaldenos gave East Union High its first lead of Tuesday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoff basketball game by draining a 3-pointer with 56 seconds to play in the opening half.
She hit another in the final minute of the fourth quarter to give the Lancers a chance at the last lead, but Placer drained late free throws and held on for a 57-49 postseason triumph inside the storied walls Earl Crabbe Gymnasium, one of the oldest basketball arenas in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
“We got off to a slow start and it took us a while to match their energy,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “We got back in the game and tied it at half.”
A 14-8 Lancer advantage in the second quarter deadlocked the game at 23-all after two frames of action, East Union’s only lead of the game came in a 30-second stretch after the first Vezaldenos trey.
The sure-handling junior led both teams with 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. East Union was also paced by Ruby Daube (12 points), Anna Wood (six) and Rena Dragony (six).
Wood and Dragony had the difficult task of combating Placer’s stellar forwards, Baylee Vanderdoes and Raquel Quirarte.
Vanderdoes, the heavily-recruited sister of UCLA football star, Eddie Vanderdoes, scored 21 points to lead Placer. She hit three 3-pointers during a 19-9 third quarter rally that ultimately constructed an insurmountable lead.
Quirarte played terrific on defense, moved well without the ball inside the East Union zone and scored nine of her 14 points in the second half.
“I thought (Quirarte) had energy that was impressive,” Agostini said. “She worked pretty hard down there and did a great job.”
“We practiced coming off those screens a lot and I think coach (Tony Camillucci) just did a great preparing us for East Union,” Quirarte added.
Maddy Hernandez scored 14 points for Placer and proved a tremendous asset in transition as East Union went to press. She rotated coverage of Vezaldenos with Nicole Lee and Sidney Wegener.
With a hoarse voice, Camillucci credited all three for big stops to limit the production of EU’s top scorer, who didn’t seem to miss on aggressive drives into the paint.
“I didn’t want it to end,” Camillucci said. “This group of kids is a lot of fun to coach.
“We had a couple of little-kid teams (from the Auburn Recreation District) here, and they want to be like our girls when they grow up. I was really glad we got to win in front of them and our home crowd.”
Seventh-seeded Placer (21-6 overall, 10-0 Pioneer Valley League champs) will play at Rio Linda (23-5) Thursday to continue the SJS D3 postseason. East Union ends the season 19-8, a No. 11 seed after a 10-4 run through the Valley Oak League.
Placer withstands East Union


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