SACRAMENTO – None of Zoe Lemoge’s pictures have been simple on the Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento on Saturday morning.
The Half Moon Bay junior used each ability, trick and transfer in her huge low-block repertoire to carve out house towards Whitney-Cerritos and rating a game-high 18 factors within the CIF women Division IV title recreation.
However her clever put up strikes weren’t sufficient to place Half Moon Bay excessive after the workforce fell right into a 10-point gap to begin the sport.
Whitney held off a number of comeback makes an attempt and handed Half Moon Bay a 48-40 loss.
“This was definitely not common, and usually, I feel like we start off stronger than we did today,” Delaney Dorwin mentioned.
Half Moon Bay’s Delaney Dorwin (23) watches from the bench as Whitney celebrates their win throughout their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Whitney defeated Half Moon Bay 48-40. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Dorwin scored 10 for HMB, and teammate Xochitl Nieves dropped in 12 factors on a wide range of easy bounce pictures. Haylie Wang scored 17 factors for Whitney, and Alyssa So scored 15 for the SoCal college.
Saturday marked the top to what had been fairly a journey by Half Moon Bay to its first state title recreation.
The Cougars have been chosen as an at-large workforce after dropping to Harker within the semifinals of the Central Coast Part Division IV playoffs.
The Peninsula college, which has been a constantly profitable program for the previous decade, made probably the most of its second probability at life.
“It’s been amazing,” Lemoge mentioned after additionally grabbing 18 rebounds. “Through it all, we were sticking together.”
Half Moon Bay wanted a dramatic end to advance previous Lowell-San Francisco within the NorCal Division IV last, as Dorwin’s basket with 9 seconds left broke a tie and lifted the coastal college to a 49-47 victory.
However towards Whitney, the Cougars simply didn’t have sufficient juice to return again after falling behind 10-0 to begin the sport.
“We got some really good looks, probably looks that most of these players would make more of if given the opportunity again,” HMB coach Megan Smith mentioned. “That’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.”
Half Moon Bay head coach Megan Smith gestures to her gamers whereas enjoying Whitney within the second half of their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Whitney defeated Half Moon Bay 48-40. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
The Cougars ended the primary quarter down 16-9, however an and-1 step-through put up layup by Lemoge and two free throws by Dorwin reduce the deficit to only two.
Nonetheless, as Whitney did each time HMB threatened, the Cerritos college went on a run to get the lead again to 6 or eight.
In a bodily recreation the place neither workforce had a participant rating off the bench, Whitney relished the problem of banging with Half Moon Bay.
“Half Moon Bay is a good team, and they’re actually bigger than us,” Whitney coach Myron Jacobs mentioned. “We’re not the biggest team, but we played with a lot of heart, and we played fast and with discipline.”
Half Moon Bay bought again to 36-31 on a Lemoge putback early within the third, however Whitney answered with baskets of their very own.
Preventing by contact, Lemoge made two layups and nailed a free throw to get it right down to 43-40 with 3:40 left within the fourth quarter.
Half Moon Bay’s Xochitl Nieves (22) shoots previous Whitney’s Rachel Moyher (4) within the first half of their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
The sport was there for the Half Moon Bay’s taking, however Whitney took it again.
So made three free throws and Wang transformed a layup. Sarai Carter led a protection that allowed simply three HMB gamers to attain.
When reflecting upon the season Half Moon Bay (23-7) had simply accomplished, Smith expressed pleasure in her workforce, not sorrow, after the Cougars turned the primary public college within the Central Coast Part to succeed in a state title recreation since Monta Vista in 1992.
“It’s a testament to how hard we’ve worked this year, and what this team is capable of, and I’m just really excited for the future,” Smith mentioned.
Half Moon Bay’s Zoey Lemoge (50) walks off the courtroom as Whitney celebrates their win throughout their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Whitney defeated Half Moon Bay 48-40. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Half Moon Bay’s Delaney Dorwin (23) reaches for a free ball towards Whitney within the first half of their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Half Moon Bay’s Xochitl Nieves (22) shoots previous Whitney’s Sarai Carter (15) within the first half of their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Half Moon Bay’s Delaney Dorwin (23) drives previous Whitney’s Allie Yamaguchi (2) within the second half of their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Whitney defeated Half Moon Bay 48-40. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
Whitney’s Sarai Carter (15) falls to the bottom after Half Moon Bay’s Zoey Lemoge (50) steps on her foot within the second half of their 2025 CIF State Basketball Championship Div. IV women recreation at Golden 1 Middle in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Whitney defeated Half Moon Bay 48-40. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
