MidValleySports.Com

Anderson drives to the basket. (Photo by AC)

(Chino Hills) – There would be no buzzer-beaters that could haunt Bonita on this night.

Double-digit scoring from four of the five starters for the Bearcats led it to a date with destiny after defeating Bishop Amat 65-53 in the CIF Division 3A semifinal game.

Freshman Nikki Wheatley took complete control of the second half to lead the comeback for Bonita. Wheatley scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the final half.

Early on both teams battled for momentum with the Lancers getting the best of the Bearcats after the first quarter with a 10-3 run to take a 13-11 lead into the second quarter. Andrea Villanueva found Leah Powell on the break to give Bishop Amat its first lead of the game.

The run continued for the Lancers with Leticia Galarza finding space from the corner for a three-pointer to extend the lead to five early in the second quarter.

Bishop Amat’s lead went to eight points when Powell scored from the outside as the Bonita offense fought to find a groove.

That groove came midway through the quarter with Taylor Anderson hitting a jumper and then making a great pass to Brianna Kennedy to suddenly cut the lead to four.

The momentum switched favorably toward the Bearcats with twenty-eight seconds remaining in the first half when Anderson blocked Galarza’s shot and led the break. Anderson made a nice pass to Madison Zylstra for the score to cut the Lancer lead to two.

Any question left on whether Bonita’s momentum was left in the locker room to start the second half quickly diminished with the Bearcats coming out on a 11-2 run. Wheatley led the run with nine points in the first four minutes of play.

The Bonita defense shifted from a zone to man-to-man and paid dividends by only allowing six points in the third quarter with only two field goals made by Bishop Amat.

The biggest turn of events came with 14.7 seconds remaining in the third with the Bearcats up by four. A foul by Viani Austin turned into a technical foul being called on Austin which enabled Bonita to have four free-throws before the third quarter ended. Anderson and Zylstra took advantage of the charity shots going four for four on the opportunity.

Bonita continued its run against the Lancers with an 8-2 run to blow the game completely open at 52-38. Kennedy, Anderson and Wheatley all scored to start the fourth quarter.

Austin refused to let the Bearcats get away by scoring six of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter.

A Wheatley three-pointer with 47 seconds was the dagger to send Bonita to a rematch against Orange Lutheran which they defeated 59-53 in the Nike Tournament in Arizona.

Anderson, Zylstra, and Kennedy finished with double-digit scoring on the evening.

Wheatley runs the offense. (Photo by AC)