Pioneer High School girls basketball wins nail-biter at Casa Roble

Shaun Holkko

Jan 28

Fire alarms sounded at Casa Roble High School before the Pioneer girls varsity basketball team took the floor, forcing those in attendance to evacuate the gymnasium.

Following a short delay, it turned out to be a false alarm. However, it may have been a premonition of what was to come minutes later during a 51-49 Patriots win on Friday night in Orangevale.

Pioneer (15-9, 8-0 Golden Empire League) started slow against the Rams (11-11, 5-3 GEL), trailing 9-4 midway through the first quarter. Sensing her team needed an early spark, Patriots freshman guard Naomi Navarro gave her team the "energy" that they so desperately needed.

Navarro got hot in the first quarter, scoring 12 of her game-high 22 points. Perhaps the fire alarm was pulled too early as the sprinkler systems in the gym were the only thing that could've cooled Navarro down in the first half.

"I told myself that we needed to win this game to be undefeated (in league)," Navarro said. "My goal is to be undefeated in my first year in high school."

The phenomenal freshman guard capped off her strong first period performance with a wise play that displayed her knowledge of the game. In the closing seconds of the first quarter, Pioneer got a steal which led to a fast break opportunity for Navarro.

Rather than attacking the basket with the game clock winding down, she displayed patience. Navarro sprinted towards the basket, jump-stopped, pump-faked and let Casa senior center Josie Povey fly by her.

Pioneer freshman guard Naomi Navarro pump fakes before scoring a buzzer beater during a 51-49 win at Casa Roble on Friday, Jan. 27 in Orangevale. (Shaun Holkko/Daily Democrat)

With less than a second remaining, Navarro laid up the shot with just enough time to beat the buzzer. The Patriots closed the first period on an 11-2 run over the final 2:36 and led 19-11 after eight minutes of play.

Pioneer continued to play well in the second quarter and led 36-25 at halftime. Navarro had half of her team's points at the break with 18.

"She was huge," Patriots head coach Sean Goldston said of Navarro. "She hit shot after shot, three after three, she was money from three. Thank God, those are the times you pray that your girls can come through and hit shots like that."

Foul trouble became Pioneer's achilles heal in the second half. Junior center Olivia Gill picked up her fourth foul two minutes into the third period, forcing her to the bench. The Patriots led 38-29 with 2:18 left in the third quarter.

Pioneer junior center Olivia Gill attempts a layup during a 51-49 win at Casa Roble on Friday, Jan. 27 in Orangevale. (Shaun Holkko/Daily Democrat)

The Rams outscored Pioneer 9-3 in a very low-scoring third period. The Patriots held a 39-34 lead entering the final quarter. Casa continued its run in the fourth, ultimately tying the game at 39 with seven minutes to play.

Gill, who is the league's leading scorer and rebounder, fouled out with 5:57 remaining. With Gill out, fellow junior center Marissa Christian embraced the challenge of filling in for one of the best players in the GEL.

"We know she has the experience and has been there before," Goldston explained. "She's played varsity since she was a freshman so I know she can step up big."

Christian led Pioneer to the 51-49 win by scoring eight of the team's 12 points in the fourth period.

"She brought a lot of energy," Navarro said of Christian. "With one of our players fouling out, we really needed her in that moment to step up. She did really good in my opinion."

Pioneer junior center Marissa Christian prepares to make a baseline pass during a 51-49 win at Casa Roble on Friday, Jan. 27 in Orangevale. (Shaun Holkko/Daily Democrat)

The Patriots scored more points in the first (19) and second quarters (17), respectively, then they did in the entire second half (15).

"It shows them that they need to take every opponent in league seriously," Goldston said. "The last two days of practice, we didn't practice well. They were taking it easy, joking around, thinking they were just going to come in here and wipe the floor with them because we always do. They brought something for us this time. We got lucky to get out (with the win).

"Going down at the end of the season, it means a lot that they pulled out something like this."

Navarro was the game's leading scorer with 22 points. Gill followed closely behind with 16 and Christian had 11 for Pioneer. Senior forward Maggie Azevedo was the only other Patriot to score Friday, nailing a two point basket in the second quarter.

Pioneer is now in the home stretch of the regular season with four games left before the postseason. The Patriots remain on the road Monday night with a game at Rio Linda (9-11, 3-4 GEL). Pioneer will return home two days later for a matchup against Mesa Verde (4-11, 2-5 GEL). Both games tip-off at 7 p.m.