National No. 1 Mitty doubles up St. Ignatius to win 32nd CIF Central Coast Section girls basketball championship
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA — The Mitty Monarchs entered Friday night’s CCS Open Division championship game at the Leavey Center with two of their Division I commits out injured and proceeded to shoot just 50% at the line.
Nonetheless, they reinforced why they’re the top-ranked team in the nation, rolling to an 84-44 win over the St. Ignatius Wildcats, the largest championship game margin in the Open Division’s 12-year history.
McKenna Woliczko showed why she’s one of the top sophomores in the nation with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, Bucknell commit Elana Weisman scored 15 of her 16 in the first half and eight other Monarchs found the scoresheet, with sophomore Emma Cook and freshman Tee McCarthy scoring 10 points apiece while Jordan Bowar dished out 11 assists.
Mitty poses after winning 32nd CCS championship.
Photo: Greg Jungferman
Winning is all Mitty (28-0) has known this season, even with UConn commit Morgan Cheli and Lehigh-bound Belle Bramer out injured. But the Monarchs still didn’t take their ninth CCS Open Division championship for granted, celebrating with a group hug at the final buzzer and raising the trophy aloft.
“You have to enjoy every moment,” said Woliczko. “Something that coach (Sue Phillips) always told me that stuck with me is ‘smell the roses.’ Enjoy every moment, every accomplishment along the way.”
The Monarchs jumped out to an early 10-0 lead and held a 19-6 edge after a quarter, with Woliczko scoring 11 to singlehandedly eclipse St. Ignatius’ entire roster. The sixth-seeded Wildcats trailed just 31-17 with 3:20 left in the second after a basket by sophomore Sophia Sanchez, but Mitty countered with an 11-0 run and went into halftime up by 24.
McKenna Woliczko (20), Mitty
Photo: Greg Jungferman
The lead was 58-32 after the third quarter, and Woliczko completed her double-double, which seems like a tradition at this point, on a putback with 6:26 left in the fourth to put her team up 62-36.
Freshman Chloe Sunarto’s 3-pointer in the final minute extended the lead to 40, but a running clock was never officially initiated, allowing St. Ignatius (18-10) to shoot free throws in the final moments.
The Wildcats (17-10), making their first championship game appearance since winning the title in 2014, got 14 points from sophomore Julia Alcantara, eight from Meaghan Manning and seven from Sanchez. Hayley McGee scored just two points but pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass, and parceled out seven assists.
Hayley McGee (4), St. Ignatius
Photo: Greg Jungferman
Despite McGee’s efforts, Mitty still won the rebound battle 43-27.
“SI is always good competition,” Woliczko said. “They’re always running, they’re always fast.”
Phillips noted that she expects Bramer and Cheli to play in Mitty’s next game, presuming the CIF puts less than eight teams in the Northern California Open Division. Mitty, the surefire top seed, wouldn’t play until Saturday unless there’s an eighth team. If the committee chooses to fill out the entire bracket, the Monarchs will play at home on Wednesday.
St. Ignatius' Stephanie Frias with strong defense on left-hand layup attempt by Sofia Teresi (22).
Photo: Greg Jungferman
More photos by Greg Jungferman
