3C2A Women's Basketball Quarterfinal #3: Delta's Defense Spurs Rally Over Cypress

N1 San Joaquin Delta plays N3 Laney in semifinals on Saturday, 1 p.m.

VISALIA -- In a battle of two strong defensive teams, North top seed San Joaquin Delta mustered enough to avoid an upset and defeat South #4 Cypress, 55-51, in the third quarterfinal of the 3C2A State Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday night.

Delta (26-5) trailed 46-40 early in the fourth quarter, then slowly pushed back. La Ne' Dunn made a basket then both teams went scoreless for three minutes before Dunn hit a turnaround jumper in the key that cut it to 46-44. 

A 3-pointer from the corner by Jakalya Gilmer gave Delta a 47-46 advantage with 4:46 left. After Christaesha Jackson drilled a jumper to regain the Cypress lead, Delta responded with a 16-footer by Aaliyah Youngblood, a pair of free throws by Dunn, and a steal and layup by Gilmer that regained the lead for good at 53-48. 

With 19 seconds to go, Cypress (23-8) nearly rallied with a steal by Marina Interiano that led to a a basket by Jackson, cutting it to 53-51. However, Delta's Marcelina Chaparro sank two free throws that clinched it.

Delta head coach Gina Johnson, whose teams have been a frequent state tourney participant over her illustrious career, said, "We've shot poorly, really going back the last two games and we've had to rely on our defense. I think it was our defensive pressure that gave us some offensive confidence in the fourth quarter. We were in the championship game back in 2022, then we were beat in two quarterfinals since then. It's exciting to be back in the semifinals and playing Laney again after we lost in overtime against them right here (77-74 on Dec. 5)."

It was the Mustangs bench that came up large with Dunn scoring 20 points (6-for-6 on free throws) as the lone Delta player to shoot above 50 percent from the field (7-of-12) and Chaparro, who made three 3-pointers as part of her 12 points. Dunn pulled down 14 rebounds, forced four steals and blocked three shots. 

For Cypress, the All-State Jackson scored a game-high 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and made three steals while All-State Mariah Henderson pumped in 21 points with 13 boards and three steals.

"In the fourth quarter, Delta won the battle of the boards and were able to force us into a lot of turnovers with a 2-3 trap," said Cypress assistant coach Margeret Mohr. "We had a great team that showed a lot of heart and really pulled for each other."

Cypress turned it over 25 on possessions to 14 turnovers by Delta. The defense also showed for both teams as Delta converted only 28.4 percent on field goals and Cypress slightly better at 32.1.

In a tightly played opening quarter, Delta went up 11-6 only to see Cypress score the game's next nine points capped by a jumper by Jackson. Chaparro made a three, then Dunn's layup at the period buzzer gave the Mustangs a 20-17 lead.

In the second period, Delta increased its advantage to 26-19 on a pair of Youngblood free throws. Cypress came right back tying it on a Jackson jumper, then Kaylene Vivo sank a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to send the Chargers ahead, 33-30.

During the third quarter, the Mustangs went stone cold, missing 14 consecutive shots, 11 of those from long range in not scoring for seven minutes. And while Cypress upped it to 40-33 on a Henderson putback, Delta finally got going with a Fajr Cuthbertson jumper and Dunn lay-in. A corner triple by Chaparro kept Delta within striking distance, 44-40, by the end of the period.

Release by Robert Lewis, 3C2A Championship SID