Sacred Heart still can't shake Magnolia in Division III final

The Magnolia girls' basketball team is hanging in there against the top-ranked team in the nation during the first half of the Division III state final, trailing San Francisco Sacred Heart, 21-18, at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

After the Sentinels scored two straight baskets at the start of the second quarter to take a 15-13 lead, Sacred Heart answered with an 8-0 run. Magnolia received some encouragement just before halftime, however, as Brittany Pennell hit a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to three heading into the locker room.

The standout players have laid low in the first half for both teams. Jhakia McDonald, an Arizona-bound guard for Magnolia, has only two points. She's averaging 12.8.

Tierra Rogers, the talented junior guard for the Fightin' Irish, has three points. Jazmine Jackson, a Pepperdine-bound guard/forward for Sacred Heart, has four points.

Brianna Colon, a senior guard for Magnolia, has picked up the slack, scoring a team-high eight points in the first half, nearly equaling her scoring average.

Kamilah Jackson, a sophomore center for the Fightin' Irish, has a team-high 10 points.

-- Dan Arritt

-- Image from www.oceansprings.org

Comments

[Martin Henderson]

This is a good news/bad news situation for Magnolia. The good news is that it's close, and the low-scoring game seems to be playing into the Sentinels hands. The bad news is that SHC is a second-half team.

Magnolia Coach Michael Anderson knows this. One of the things he hoped to do was make Jackson work on both ends of the floor to prevent her from becoming a factor. So far, so good.

But McDonald -- or someone -- will have to step up like Colon did in the first half, because another 18-point half will not get it done for Magnolia.

It seems obvious, but the Sentinels may be able to do everything it wants on defense, but in the end it still has to be able to outscore SHC to pull this off.

Since the officials know who's supposed to win this game, let's see how the officiating goes down the stretch ... if you know what I mean.