McCutchan had strong ending to her high school career. Photo by Anne Cypress.
(La Canada) – Tia Chen’s desperation three-point shot went wide at the buzzer for La Canada and it allowed road-weary Atascadero to survive a thrilling second round Division 4AA playoff game with a 53-51 win.
It didn’t appear that the 209 mile drive from the north affected Atascadero in the first quarter as they went eight for nine and scored 18 points to take an early five-point lead.
La Canada fell short of a quarterfinal appearance after falling behind by 12 points early midway through the fourth quarter when Greyhounds forward Mary-Kate Evans made an easy shot from six-feet.
Courtney McCutchan and Chen both had their “senior” moments in the second half as they continued to cut into the Atascadero’s lead and combined for 12 of the 14 points scored in the third quarter. The other two points was from fellow senior Jessica Yamamoto who buried a 15-foot jump shot from the corner at the buzzer to cut the deficit to two.
Chen's floater helped the Spartans cut the lead to four late in the game. Photo By Anne Cypress.
The Greyhounds stopped the 10-4 Lady Spartan run to start the fourth quarter as Raven Taylor scored six-straight points to turn a two-point lead back to eight in the first two minutes of the final stanza.
That turn of fortune also was a late wake-up call for Chen who scored 13 of her game-high 27 points in the final quarter.
The Lady Spartans went on a 13-3 run in the final three minutes of the game that was sparked when Chen picked the pocket of Alyssa Palma to cut the deficit to seven points. Chen would then cut the lead to four when she made a baseline drive lay-up.
Atascadero didn’t help their cause at the end of the game as Evans continued to miss free-throws at the charity stripe and it allowed for a dramatic finish.
With 13 seconds to go and the La Canada down four, Chen dribbled up court and found herself open for a 27-foot jumper to get within one-point and set up the final shot.
ATASCADERO 18 12 8 15 53
LA CANADA 13 9 14 15 51
SCORING:
ATASCADERO: Raven Taylor 20, Mary-Kate Evans 14, Casey Nero 8, Shannon Berwick 7, Alyssa Palma 2, Jessica Gates 2
LA CANADA: Tia Chen 27, Courtney McCutchan 17, Kristene Hossepian 4, Jessica Yamamoto 2, Grace O’Hara 1
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