Following a historic 26-2 regular season, the Bear Cubs proved they are the team to beat in a win over the Napa Valley Storm in Round 2 of the California Community College Athletic Association Norcal Regional Championship.
Despite not playing a game in 11 days, the Bear Cubs came out blazing and completely dismantled the Storm in all aspects of the game, winning 81-39.
“Our legs weren’t tired, and we came ready today and I think that showed,” forward Sheriene Arikat said.
Forward Ashleigh Barr added, “We wanted to make sure that we had a good start to finish and didn’t turn the ball over too much and got good shots.”
The Bear Cubs’ strong interior defense proved pivotal to their first half success. Santa Rosa allowed the Storm to score a mere one point in the second quarter and nine points in the entire first half. Barr dominated the paint with three blocks and a team-high nine rebounds. The Bear Cubs totaled 57 rebounds throughout, running away with the rebound advantage.
“I thought in the second quarter we kind of locked down and really bought into the scouting report and bought into what we wanted to do against each player,” head coach Lacey Campbell said. “We rebounded the ball and didn’t allow them to get second chance points.”
Offensively, it didn’t matter if it was behind the arc or in the paint, the Bear Cubs scored at will. Guards Lucca Lowenberg and Laine Lincoln took over the game with a combined 36 points and rained in eight 3-pointers. Arikat also added in 14 points on a team-high 63% field goal percentage.
“This is win or go home so it’s just that mentality. Some are going to fall and some aren’t going to fall,” Arikat said. “You just have to keep shooting.”
Santa Rosa will host Laney college (22-5) on March 4 in a game that will decide who advances to State.
The Bear Cubs have blown out everyone they have played recently, but as they go deeper into playoffs, the games will become closer.
“We played a lot of close games early on, so we’ve been there, we’ve been tested,” Campbell said.
Additional reporting by Alex Cambron Padilla and Roland Petty
