College of the Siskiyous will open the postseason at Solano Saturday night, and coach Tom Powers likes his team’s chances.
The Eagles took their hopes for a share of the GVC title down to the wire Saturday night in Weed before losing to Shasta, 80-72.
They finished third with a 7-3 record, behind Shasta (9-1) and Butte (8-2).
Siskiyous (17-8 overall) is ranked No. 11 in the North Regional of the 2010 CCCAA Women’s Basketball playoffs. They’re scheduled to open at No. 6 Solano (23-5) Saturday.
The winner will advance to play the winner of No. 14 Foothill (14-14) vs. No. 3 Santa Rosa (23-6) the following Saturday, March 6.
Siskiyous lost to Solano at a tournament in mid-December, but Powers said he likes the draw his team got for the postseason.
Solano is a familiar postseason foe, and Powers sees his team matching up well with them.
“If we can play with the same energy we had against Shasta, we’ll be OK,” Powers said.
In front of a large Sophomore Night crowd this past Saturday night, the Eagles and Shasta traded the lead back and forth throughout the second half.
Siskiyous took a 72-71 lead on a free throw by sophomore Alanna Stevens with under three minutes to play, then got outscored 9-0.
Though the 6 three-point shots the Eagles made were below their average of 10 per game, “We didn’t have trouble scoring inside,” Powers said.
He said the game was similar to the two previous meetings between the north state rivals this season in that they traded scoring runs.
“They made some big shots down the stretch,” Powers said, “but our girls played as hard as they have all year. We just ran out of time to make our next run.”
Freshman Michelle Hoehn scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half, then sophomore Amber Franko scored all 21 of her points in the second half.
Hoehn was 8 for 8 from the free throw line, Franko was 8 for 10, and the Eagles as a team were 18 for 21.
Freshman Natalie Smith scored 12 points, Stevens finished with 8, Cassidy Hammon 5 and Dijana Topalovic 3.
Shasta made 10 three-pointers, 5 of them by No. 23 Megan Remley, who scored a game-high 27 points.
The GVC title was the second in a row for Shasta and head coach Jerry Brown, a Mount Shasta High School graduate.
Shasta (21-6) is the No. 6 seed in the North Regionals and opens at home Friday against No. 10 Chabot (15-11).
Butte (19-7) is seeded No. 15 and opens against No. 18 Sierra (14-14) with the winner advancing to play No. 2 Fresno (23-6).
