Northgate on to NCS Championship

Northgate eliminates Maria Carrillo
Amanda Johnson leads the Pumas with a game-high 13 points before fouling out
By PHIL BARBERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A lot of people figured Amanda Johnson's high school basketball career would end on the court at Oracle Arena in Oakland, with her Pumas playing for the Nor Cal title. Instead, Johnson's tenure at Maria Carrillo ended on the bench. She fouled out of the Pumas' North Coast Section championship game with about 2:45 left, a key factor in Northgate's 39-32 victory at Carrillo on Wednesday.

The cold-shooting Pumas (28-2) were down 37-29 with three minutes left and desperately trying to claw their way back into the game when Johnson picked Kelly Peterson -- Northgate's best all-around player -- in the backcourt and headed for a layup. Instead, Carrillo's versatile star was called for the foul.Seconds later, the Pumas trapped a Northgate player deep in the backcourt, and Johnson tipped and intercepted a pass. But she was called for a charge on her way to the basket.She headed to the bench with five fouls, and Maria Carrillo's incensed fans emptied their lungs. The referee temporarily halted play to warn the crowd after someone threw an object onto the court.The Pumas would score only three more points after Johnson's fifth foul, on Ashley Morgan's 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining."The game doesn't come down to two plays," Johnson said after the game. "If I hadn't have fouled early, the situation wouldn't have been that. But it's hard. There's a physicality necessary in a game like this."Carrillo coach Steve Azevedo wasn't as diplomatic."The fifth foul, I don't know how you make that call in an NCS final. I don't know how you foul out the best player in the section on that call."In a disjointed game that saw both teams miss numerous open looks, Northgate led 13-9 after the first period and 18-15 at halftime. The pace finally started to heat up when each team score seven points in the final two minutes of the quarter.Johnson made a nice move along the baseline and drove for a layup, then put back center Ariana Demery's airball to give Carrillo a fleeting lead at 21-20. Northgate's Kaley Blodgett immediately answered with a shot from the perimeter to regain the lead. The Broncos' Peterson scored over Johnson, Demery completed a three-point play with a free throw (after a lane violation erased her miss), and Peterson struck again just before the buzzer after Northgate (25-3) beat the Pumas' press, giving the visitors a 27-24 lead.It was Blodgett, a skinny 5-foot-5 perimeter player, who became Maria Carrillo's nemesis. She nailed a 3-pointer with 5:23 left in the game to give Northgate a 34-27 advantage. And when Morgan hit two free throws to cut the deficit to five, Blodgett struck again with another trey."We knew right where she was supposed to be," Azevedo said. "We just didn't take care of that."Johnson led all scorers with 13 points. But hounded by a mix of zone and man-to-man defense, she never found the hot streak Carrillo needed to get to the Nor Cal finals. On the defensive end, she picked up a couple of fouls early and had to curtail her aggressiveness.Morgan had nine points for the Pumas, and Demery had five. Peterson led Northgate with 11, helped by Blodgett and Courtney Hamilton with 10 each.It was an abrupt end to an amazing season for the Pumas, the best in school history. Johnson will play at Oregon next season, but the senior wasn't ready to be excited about it Wednesday night."It's hard knowing your next game is not at this gym," she said. "I've been playing under Steve for three years, and I have a great amount of admiration and respect for him as a person. I'll maintain contact with him and the girls, but it's hard knowing they won't be a part of my everyday life. Change is inevitable, but that doesn't make it any easier."