Jan 28, 2016 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – Breeding confidence in a basketball team typically is the responsibility of the head coach. In the case of the Jefferson-Morgan girls high school basketball team, the confidence needed to put together an impressive season began years before.

The starting five for the Rockets not only remained the same from the 2014-15 season, but played basketball together for a long time. That confidence only continued to grow after a trip to the WPIAL playoffs last season.

Accompanying a high confidence level is normally high expectations. Having high expectations and fulfilling them are two different things.

Grimaces, tears and smiles were all revealed down the stretch for the Rockets in front of a capacity crowd at California High School Thursday night, where J-M was able to pull out a 41-34 victory over California to claim at least a share of the Section 3-A title.

The Rockets, who fell behind 34-33 after a free throw from California’s Marissa Bitoni with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter, went on an 8-0 run to close out the game. Most of those eight points came from the senior-dominated, J-M starting lineup at the foul line, where the Rockets went 9 of 13 in the final eight minutes.

“You can’t replace experience,” said J-M head coach Chris Niemiec. “It’s the leadership that we have on this team. It’s the girls who have been there and who have done it, which some have played together for 10 years.”

The loud crowd, from both contingencies, seemed to cause problems for the Rockets, whose offensive strategy was thrown out the window with turnovers or deep three-point shots early into possessions. “Every time a shot went in or there was a turnover, the crowd was in it,” said Niemiec. “Even when the girls came out on the floor, I haven’t heard boos like that in a high school game for a long time.”

It was something California head coach Chris Minerd wasn’t accustomed to either.

“I have been coaching here for nine years and we have never had an atmosphere like this,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more and can’t say enough about the student body coming out and supporting us.”

After struggling most of the first half, J-M (12-0, 17-1) found itself ahead after a seven-point run midway through the second quarter. However, a three-point heave as the buzzer sounded from California’s Jenna Miller gave the Trojans a 16-14 lead at halftime.

That lead evaporated soon after halftime with J-M going on another run after three-pointers from Kayla Yorko and Anna Mattish allowed the Rockets to take a 24-16 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.

“I told them at the break to make sure their spacing was right and to just continue to play defense,” said Niemiec. “We were hoping to find a lot more easy looks.”

Those easy looks also came for California (10-2, 12-7) after turning to the press and forcing numerous turnovers and held ball situations. The Trojans climbed their way back into the game after two straight buckets from Bailey Vig and a layup from Miller to give them a 32-31 lead with 3:25 remaining.

But battling through both the tears and grimaces was J-M’s Ally Bogden, who approached the line six times in the four quarter nursing an injured shoulder. She connected on five.

“The problem with every game that we have lost this year was that we have been inconsistent,” said Minerd. “You can’t do that against a team like J-M. We made a lot of mental mistakes and they took advantage of those mistakes. They did what a seasoned team does and it showed in crunch time.”

California struggled all night finding secondary scoring from players other than Vig, who scored 14 points, and Miller, who pitched in 12 points. The first points coming from a Trojan other than Vig or Miller came with 1:37 left in the third quarter.

J-M developed a balanced attack that mainly came in the second half. Leading the Rockets was Bogden with 10 points, followed by nine-point performances from both Nikki Venick and Yorko.

“Normally we have better balance than that,” said Minerd. “We didn’t get it today. I don’t know if some of our girls have played in this type of environment before. I think J-M proved that they were a great team and kept its composure – that’s what champions do.”