High school basketball: Monache wins D-II championship behind two big clutch shots
Alisha Verdejo saved the best for last for the Monache High girls basketball team.
She hit back-to-back 3-pointers to lead the Maruaders to a 41-37 victory over Tehachapi in the Central Section Division II girls high school championship at Selland Arena on Friday night.
“We worked hard and we played some tough games,” Monache coach Jonathon Bartlett said. “I think that’s what prepared us tonight.”
The Marauders (31-2) faced teams such as Centennial, Clovis East, Mission Oak, Ridgeview, Bakersfield Christian, Clovis, Buchanan and Bullard.
Monache won its fourth section title and the first since 2012, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Verdejo led Monache with 19 points on 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
When the buzzer sounded, she ran to her family to celebrate then realized she needed to get back to her teammates.
Her clutch shots proved the the difference.
“We got to win this game,” she said. “Play basketball and play confident. Even though it’s a close game, they came back a little bit. I had to feel confident that I was going to make it. I was confident in my shot.”
She added that she was “super hungry.”
“This was our dream,” she said. “We want to play college basketball. We want to show people what we’re made of. Yeah, we’re from a small town, we can hang with big teams like Clovis or Tehachapi.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2024 at 12:40 AM.
