“If you don’t stop Layshia Clarendon, you don’t win,” said Poly coach Carl Buggs after his team’s 52-44 loss to the Cajon Cowgirls in the CIF championship game.  There’s probably a little more to it than that, but Clarendon certainly takes the lion’s share of the credit for her team’s upset win over the Jackrabbits last night—at halftime, the score was Cajon 30, Poly 19…but really, it was Clarendon 19, Poly 19.  On her way to 28 points, Clarendon racked up six assists, and displayed an ability to squelch Poly’s momentum any time the ‘Rabbits got a run.

The Jackrabbits never led, as Cajon scored the first six points of the contest, four by Clarendon.  For Poly, it was all Ta’Nitra Byrd in the first, as she consistently knocked down her inside shots (she started 6/6 on her way to 7/11 shooting and a team-high 14 points).  A bucket from Byrd on Poly’s last possession brought the Jackrabbits within two, until Clarendon banked in a near-halfcourt shot just before the buzzer sounded, making it a five-point lead—ouch.  The Cowgirls banged on the offensive board and got second-chance points at will; really, the only thing Poly had going for them was that Clarendon and Cajon’s big, Darshae Burnside, both had two fouls after the first eight minutes.  But, fittingly for a game where Poly never quite managed to capitalize on the opportunities Cajon gave them, the Cowgirls (who committed six fouls in the first quarter) didn’t have a single whistle blown on them in the second.

In the second, Poly’s biggest weakness caught up with them.  “Our Achilles heel all year long is that we don’t shoot well,” said Buggs.  “They ran that low zone to keep us from getting the ball in to Monique, and the way you break that zone is to hit your outside shots.  We couldn’t hit one.”  Poly was 3/13 from beyond the arc, with all three converted shots coming in the fourth quarter, from Brittany Wilson.  Because they couldn’t pry the zone open, they turned the ball over eight times in the second, mostly while trying to dump the ball down to their go-to player, Oliver, who was tightly bracketed by two Cowgirls for most of the first half.  Unable to move the ball inside or shoot from outside, Poly scored just 8 points in the second quarter—Clarendon poured in 10, and the Jackrabbits trailed 30-19 at intermission.

In the third, it looked like things might turn around early.  Poly started on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to five points, playing tighter defense and using their height advantage to close out shooters—then, Clarendon found a teammate open in the corner, earning an assist on a three.  Oliver scored quickly in response, but that would end Poly’s scoring in the third—despite holding Clarendon and Co. to just nine points in the third, Poly mustered just eight once against, and trailed by twelve heading into the final period. 

With four minutes left, they’d worked Burnside and Clarendon both to four fouls, but never managed to get the fifth on either.  “We were trying to press [Burnside], but couldn’t get her, and with [Clarendon], she’s not going to foul you on defense, and we couldn’t get it on offense,” said Buggs.  Aside from Wilson’s three’s and a bucket by Oliver, Poly couldn’t get much done in the final period, as Cajon sank enough free throws to clinch the win.  Leaders for Poly were Byrd with 14 points, Oliver with 10 points and 9 rebounds, and Wilson with 11.  Aside from Clarendon’s 28, Burnside was the leader for the Cowgirls, with nine points and a game-high seventeen rebounds, almost half of them on offense.

It was a different experience talking to the coach and team after the game, because as Buggs points out, this isn’t their last game.  “We’ve got to get ready again, because the season starts over on Monday,” he says, referring to the state tournament, which Poly is guaranteed a berth into (we’ll have the brackets Sunday evening and post them live).  This year Poly will be going for a record fourth-straight state championship.  The first of that run, three years ago, came after Poly lost in the CIF championship game.  When asked whether he thought his team would use the experience of losing, and of the Cajon fans chanting “Overrated” in the fourth quarter as motivation, Buggs’ response was simple: “I’m positive.”