Parcon’s, Garcia’s breakout performances fuel Central Catholic to playoff win
A historic season continues for the Central Catholic girls basketball team.
The Raiders won 24 games, had the best regular season win percentage in recent school history, won a co-VOL title, the first-ever league championship in the league, and earned a No. 1 seed in the Division IV playoffs.
To cap it off, Tuesday’s 66-22 win over No. 16 Ripon was the program’s first postseason victory since 2017.
That year, they beat Colfax in the first round, 55-51. Then they had a drought. The years since, even when they finished with winning records, they lost in the first round.
“I’m happy for this group,” said head coach Alison Murata Nichols. “I don’t feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders. It’s totally new for them.”
It was a slow start for both teams Tuesday, and the Raiders led 3-2 three minutes into the game. Then they went on a run.
Ayla Parcon made a sweeping left-hand layup, came up with a steal and assisted on a Mia Cardozo layup, swiped another steal and drained a three of a pass from Samantha Nichols. Garcia came up with another steal and layup, and in under a minute, Central Catholic was up 10.
From that point on, the Raiders were themselves. They allowed a Ripon first-quarter three after the run but did not give up another point until the six minute, 30 second mark in the second. By then, they had a 23-8 lead.
“Our defense fuels our offense,” Nichols said. “When we can play fast-paced and get steals and layups, then everything starts to open up. The basket just seems a lot wider at that point.”
The first-quarter run fueled a career performance from Parcon in her biggest game to date. She is a junior, but this is her first season suiting up for Central Catholic after stress fractures in her tibia sidelined her as freshman and sophomore. She finished with 27 points.
“I love to bring energy and a spark,” Parcon said. “I like to be a leader like that and bring people’s (energy) up. When one of us does it, it just bleeds onto each other, so I like being the one to fire us up.”
Hannah Garcia also poured in 27 points in her first playoff action. She has had her own injury setbacks, tearing her right ACL in seventh grade and her left just before her freshman basketball season. She could have played last year, but as a high-level competitive soccer player, she used her sophomore winter to work out on the field. Garcia geared up for an important travel soccer season during which she hoped to draw attention from Division I programs. It worked, and she’s committed to Pepperdine.
With that out of the way, Garcia plays basketball free of worries. “I ended up going through a lot of adversity and coming back stronger mentally and physically,” she said. “That was a game changer in how I came into this season. I just wanted to come out and play hard. It was supposed to be for fun, then ended up being super-competitive, which has been fun.”
Parcon and Garcia fueled the Raiders all night. Steals, transition layups and threes powered them to a 23-5 lead after the first quarter and a 39-13 halftime lead.
Central Catholic led 61-17 after three quarters, and backups played for most of the final frame.
The Raiders won’t leave the Mark Gallo Health and Fitness Center for any postseason game before the section final at Golden 1 Center on Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. Their playoff journey continues Thursday in the quarterfinals against eight-seed Sutter.
Stanislaus District girls playoffs
Division I
No. 3 Folsom 64, No. 14 Gregori 40: The Jaguars fell behind 18-0 to start the game and could not recover, losing in the first round of the Division I section playoffs. Gregori beat Stagg 67-26 in Monday’s play-in game, earning the Jaguars the 14-seed in the bracket. The illustrious high school careers of seniors Alanah Lopez, Veronica Whitten and Audrey Pacheco come to an end. Lopez is the program’s all-time leading scorer, and the three went undefeated in CCAL play in three of their four varsity seasons, including this year. Gregori battled through injuries to rotation players all season and finished 19-11 overall and 10-0 in league play.
Division II
No. 4 El Capitan 55, No. 13 Patterson 42: El Capitan’s three leading scorers continued to carry the load in the first round of the playoffs. Alexis Valenzuela scored a team-high 17, Avnoor Bains added 14 and Madysen Dietz scored 11. Patterson’s season ends at 16-12 overall. El Capitan hosts No. 5 Woodcreek in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Division III
No. 11 Ceres 36, No. 6 Sierra 35: The Bulldogs pulled off the upset Tuesday night with lockdown defense. Sierra finished the third quarter with a three to make it a 35-29 game . Ceres held the Timberwolves scoreless in the fourth quarter in a comeback win. Ceres forced a turnover with 11 seconds left, then scored a game-winning layup as time expired. The Bulldogs take on undefeated Lathrop on Thursday in the quarterfinals
Division IV
No. 4 Escalon 54, No. 13 Venture Academy 35: Despite their second-leading scorer, Madi Babasa, sidelined, Escalon still managed to pull out a near 20-point win Tuesday night. The team’s leading scorer, rebounder and assists leader, Ari Velasco, was double-teamed from the start of the game, but others stepped up to secure the win. Escalon hosts No. 5 Calaveras on Thursday.
No. 3 West Campus 64, No. 14 Hilmar 18: West Campus had two players outscore the Yellowjackets as Naomi Johnson (25 points) and Loismary Justice (19) led the charge for West Campus. Hilmar finished with an impressive 16-9 overall record and a 6-6 finish in the TVL.
No. 10 Amador 48, No. 7 Riverbank 18: The Bruins were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the visiting Buffaloes. Riverbank finishes the season as third place in the Mother Lode League and 18-11 overall.
Division V
No. 7 Ripon Christian 43, No. 10 Rio Vista 32: The Knights advance to the CIF-SJS Division V quarterfinals after Tuesday’s win over Rio Vista. Ripon Christian, the seventh-ranked team in the division, travels to Liberty Ranch looking to cause an upset Thursday.
