Beatrice Conejero hit a deep three-pointer with 20 seconds left in overtime to give the Ohlone Lady Renegades a 63-62 win over Foothill College last Tuesday night at home in a Coast Conference battle. The Lady Renegades came off a tough loss to Delta College the Thursday prior, and overcame many blown leads to come away with the victory. Ohlone is now 2-1 overall. Early in the game, Ohlone let Foothill stay in the game by committing
turnovers and fouls, and not taking advantage of early mistakes by Foothill. The Lady Renegades gave up a few too many easy shots off the perimeter, allowing Foothill to stay alive via the three-point shot. Foothill seemed to control the pace of the game when they needed to and chipped away at a nine-point lead that Ohlone had, and took the lead late in the first half off a deep three-point shot. The Lady Renegades, State Championship contenders a year ago in their own right, would keep this game from getting too far out of hand. They quickly regained the lead on the next possession as Ganeaya Rogers threaded the needle with a beautiful pass to Jasmine Rubin inside the post, making a nice contested layup. Throughout the second half, the game was a back-and-forth battle. Ohlone took its only two-possession lead of the half when Elise Spain nailed a 20-footer off a Foothill turnover. Foothill never let Ohlone pull away from them. The Lady Renegades showed them just as much heart in the final minutes, countering Foothill’s attack with one of their own. In the final six minutes of play, there was a total of six lead changes. During the final minute of regulation, Ohlone took a three-point lead when Rubin nailed two clutch free throws. On the next possession for Foothill, one of the Owls made a nice 15-foot teardrop while getting fouled with seconds remaining. The free-throw was made, and the game was pushed to overtime. Early in overtime, Foothill took a four-point lead. The Lady Renegades scratched and clawed their way back, tying the game with a minute thirty left with a Rubin field goal. With 48.1 seconds remaining in overtime, the Owls in-bounded the ball and, instead of playing for the two-for-one, ate 20 seconds off the clock and played for the foul, getting it, and making both shots to give Foothill a two-point lead with 27 seconds remaining. The Renegades called a timeout immediately after to set up the play of the game. With 20 seconds left, Conejero hit a three-pointer off a perfect Rogers assist pass, putting them up by one. The Renegades then came up with a huge defensive stop, with Rogers forcing a fade- away jumper and then getting the rebound, which sealed the win for the Renegades. “She told us to stay in control out there, and take good shots,” Conejero said after the game, referring to Head Coach Julie Allender’s strategy during the timeout. “We knew if we pulled Jasmine in, trying to run a play to her on the inside, we knew people would all move to one side, leaving her wide open,” Allender said. “Ganeaya made a great feed, and it was a great shot.” “Anytime you beat a Foothill, a team that has that reputation of that caliber, it’s nice going into the break we got, we still have some work to do, but they got it done,” Allender continued. Rubin led all scorers on the night with 22 points, and also recording six rebounds. Crystal Mclaughlin had a nice night controlling the boards with 10 rebounds, while picking up seven assists as well. However the stat of the night belonged to Conejero, who not only hit the game-winning three, but also made three other shots from beyond the arc, going four out of five from downtown, at an amazing 80 percent clip. Ohlone will have plenty of time to enjoy this win – which gives them a 2-1 record – and get ready for their next opponent. The next game for the Renegades is Dec. 10, in one of the toughest tournaments in the state at Santa Rosa Junior College. Ohlone will open with another State contender last year in City College of San Francisco.
By Jacob Schabert
Staff writer
Popularity: unranked [?]
