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Castilleja Beats SHP; Advance to WBAL Finals to Face Pinewood for Fourth Time

February 20, 2009 on 11:59 pm | In Game Recaps | No Comments

Castilleja clinched it’s first 20-win season since 2003-04 with a victory over visiting Sacred Heart Prep in the Semi-Final Round of the WBAL Playoffs Friday night. Castilleja jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter and controlled the game for much of the first half while Sacred Heart Prep remained within striking distance. In the second half, Castilleja was paced by Eve Zelinger (13 points, five rebounds, three asssits, two steals), who seemed to answer each Sacred Heart score with a bucket of her own. Sacred Heart Prep, already missing senior Gabby Micek, their leading scorer, lost Morgan Aitken-Young to a disqualification as she fouled five times in the third quarter. In the fourth, Castilleja looked as though it would put the game away as Natasha von Kaeppler (eight points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals) hit a layup with five minutes left to put Castilleja up ten, 33-23. Sacred Heart’s Morgan Aitken-Young responded by draining back-to-back long-distance three’s to draw the visiting Gators to within four, putting the pressure back on Castilleja. The homestanding Gators answered back with an Eve Zelinger layup off a crisp pass from Ericka von Kaeppler (six points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals, three blocks) pushing Castilleja’s lead back to six. Sacred Heart Prep would once again pull to within four, but would draw no closer as Tayo Amos (five rebounds, two assists) sank a deep jumper for two of her career high tying six points. A pair of Sacred Heart Prep free throws got the final margin to four as Castilleja would hold on for their sixth WBAL Playoff victory in seven games all-time.

Notes: Eve Zelinger’s three assists leaves her one shy of Mika Peterman’s all-time career record of 338…Castilleja’s 37 points ties an all-time low when scoring at least eight points in each quarter.