From LBPOSTSports.com: After his team’s 60-46 win over the host Corona Santiago Sharks, Poly’s head coach Carl Buggs said he thought his team this year was the deepest he’s had in the last four seasons—a scary thought considering they’ve won state titles the last three years in a row. But consider the first half of the second quarter: with two starters resting, Buggs played Ariya Crook-Williams at the point (a sophomore), Brittany and Ashley Wilson (juniors), the recently-recovered Sheila Boykin (a sophomore), and Thaddesia Southall (a junior). Against a tough opponent in a rowdy gym, they scored nine straight points—largely due to the dominant play of Boykin, who had nine points on 4/4 shooting in limited minutes—while giving Monique Oliver a rest. Then Oliver came back in and scored Poly’s final four points of the half, giving them a 34-19 lead at intermission. In all, Buggs utilized 11 players in a close game, and got 19 points from his bench.
Poly jumped out to a quick lead early, starting 10-0 as they both outmuscled and outran the diminutive Sharks. Santiago is a drive-and-kick team to the fullest, and in the first half they got plenty of open looks, but didn’t convert many points from the perimeter as they shot poorly, leading to a 21-11 Poly lead after eight minutes. In the second, the story was the same as Poly went to the bench to expand their lead. The ‘Rabbits dominated the boards (11 rebounds in the first quarter, and only allowing two offensive boards to the Sharks in the first half), and seemed poised to make the game officially “uncompetitive” in the third quarter.
Not so much. The Sharks won the third quarter 18-11, as Poly turned the ball over seven times, and the Sharks started dropping those outside bombs, with Jasmine Lister leading the way. Lister played out of her mind, scoring 23 points and taking the game over for stretches—she and twin sister Cinnamon combined for 13 of their team’s 18 in the third. Early in the fourth, Santiago’s Cebrina Johnson fouled out—their tallest starting player at 5’8″, that created plenty of opportunities for Poly’s bigs, who put in nine points in the final period. But the Sharks, especially the Listers, continued to shoot the lights out of their spacious gym, and they made it a game—with under two left in the third they were down just six, and they remained within spitting distance of Poly for most of the fourth, until sound free-throw shooting eventually sealed the game for the top-seeded’ Rabbits.
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