LAFAYETTE – Slashing to the basket nigh at will, Ok.Ok. Lacanlale sliced aside visiting Cardinal Newman with what gave the impression to be dozens of exact cuts in Wednesday’s North Coast Part Open Division semifinal.
Her sharp strikes, each with and with out the ball, made it apparent that the 11-day break Acalanes loved between league play and the playoffs had not taken the sting off of the Dons potent offense.
The outcome was a no-doubt-about-it 78-52 Acalanes rout over Newman, one the place the top-seeded Dons shredded their North Bay friends in a second-half evisceration to advance to this system’s first Open Division title sport.
“It feels like all of our hard work is paying off,” mentioned Lacanlale, who received the NCS D-II title as a freshman in 2022.
Acalanes will play second-seed San Ramon Valley – which took down Carondelet 66-55 within the different semifinal – at Campolindo on Saturday evening. The Dons legendary coach Margaret Gartner, who’s trying so as to add a twelfth NCS title to her trophy case, has the utmost respect for the Wolves and their equal-opportunity assault.
“They can all shoot, similar to us,” coach Margaret Gartner mentioned of SRV. “Every girl on the court will hit a three if you leave her open.”
Lacanlale scored 13 factors, together with eight straight for Acalanes within the third quarter to assist blow the sport open. She additionally regarded to set teammates up on many drives and completed the evening with 10 assists.
The Dons raced out to a 22-12 first quarter lead, helped by shot-making by 23-point scorer Dulci Vail, who additionally had 5 blocks towards Newman’s tall entrance line.
“The biggest challenge was just their length, because we haven’t seen teams like that in our league,” Vail mentioned.
Her willingness to contest pictures additionally obtained her into foul hassle, and with Acalanes’ solely post-presence on the bench, CN was in a position to attract fouls on Lacanlale too and decelerate the sport.
Acalanes went into halftime up 39-31, and coach Margaret Gartner made one key adjustment.
“Don’t foul, and let them have it,” Gartner informed her group.
With fouls not an issue, and nonetheless in a position to contest pictures by retaining their arms straight up within the air, the Dons resumed their evisceration of Newman’s protection and turned the sport right into a rout.
Acalanes’ fastbreak offense, which produced 20 transition factors, helped give the Dons simple offense, and even once they have been pressured to play extra within the halfcourt, the Lafayette program’s perpetual movement offense saved Newman off stability.
Ariana Hallstrom put in 14 on quite a lot of powerful pictures, and Sophie Chinn scored 15 factors and grabbed 13 boards. Lexxi Le dropped in 11 to spherical out the double-digit scorers for Acalanes.
Acalanes’ subsequent opponent is a well-recognized one. The Dons defeated San Ramon Valley 72-57 in late December.
However that was months in the past, and Acalanes is aware of that taking down a Danville powerhouse making its fourth consecutive look within the Open title sport won’t be simple. .
“We have to bring our A-game, because they’re a very good team as well,” Lacanlale mentioned. “But if we play our game, I think we can do it.”
