Turlock Christian girls fall to Sacramento Waldorf in Sac-Joaquin Section D-VI final

The Turlock Christian girls basketball team retreated to the locker room as the gymnasium exploded in a blue-and-white celebration.

The tough-luck Eagles didn’t need to stick around to see what would happen next. They had experienced this heartache before.

Sacramento Waldorf received hats and handshakes, patches and applause, and of course the coveted Sac-Joaquin Section banner – the spoils of a 59-51 victory in the Division VI championship game at Galt High on Thursday night.

The Waves (21-5) rode the strength and stamina of Lillian Olson, whose monstrous double double helped them end a 17-year drought between section titles.

Sacramento Waldorf last won a championship in 1999, and the difference maker was the Waves’ lone senior.

Olson boosted her section-best scoring and rebounding averages against the Eagles, who advance to the CIF Northern California regional tournament despite the loss.

“She’s our only senior and that’s what we expect from her,” Sacramento Waldorf coach Brian Wolfe said. “She’s driven us in this postseason.”

The 6-foot-2 Olson stood head and shoulders above the fleet-footed Eagles. She had 35 points, 27 rebounds and six blocks, and keyed the decisive fourth-quarter push with a flurry of points to start and finish the period.

“If we don’t tire our opponent out and they still have gas in the tank in the fourth quarter and they perform like Lillian did, we’re going to struggle,” Turlock Christian coach Edwin Santiago said. “And we sure did. Lillian was four-quarters strong. She ran the floor and she did not lose any resolve in her game whatsoever. I think she saved some for the fourth quarter because she looked phenomenal.”

Trailing 41-40 entering the fourth, Olson scored the first six points to give the Waves the lead for good. She had another personal 6-0 run later in the quarter to give Sacramento Waldorf its biggest lead, 58-47, with about a minute left.

Sacramento Waldorf outscored Turlock Christian 19-10 over the final 14 minutes. Olson, a coveted Division II recruit, had 14 of those points.

Guard Kenedi Smith scored five of her 12 points in the fourth, weaving through the Eagles’ vaunted press for pair of transition layups. Her free throw with 29 seconds left sealed the win.

Santiago praised his opposition’s stamina. Few teams have been able to match Turlock Christian’s tempo.

“They did a great job of reversing the ball and breaking our press,” Santiago said.

Turlock Christian has now lost three straight section finals, including back-to-back defeats to Valley Christian in 2014 and 2015.

Each loss came with some measure of disappointment, but this one will sting.

Behind closed doors, Santiago thanked nine seniors for lifting the program to the top of the division. Three of those seniors refused to let the top-seeded Waves just waltz off with the blue banner.

Point guard Cassie Balswick flirted with a triple double, finishing with a team-high 13 points, 13 steals and nine assists.

Forward McCalister Russell had eight points and 16 rebounds, while Mikayla Yagi did all the dirty work. She had five points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

“It’s part of their character – never quit. Thirty-two minutes of whatever you have left in tank,” Santiago said. “You leave your signature on the court by giving your very best. That’s what they’ve done all season. That’s what they’ve done all four years at TC.”

Turlock Christian proved to be its own worst enemy. The Eagles turned the ball over 24 times and made just 13 of 36 free throws.

Despite its struggles, Turlock Christian began the fourth quarter in position to win the program’s first section title.

Turlock Christian surged out of the halftime break on a 7-1 run fueled by two putbacks by Russell and a hook shot by Brooke Rodrigues, who tallied eight points.

Russell’s second basket gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the game, 38-32. Sacramento Waldorf closed the gap, but still trailed 41-40 going into the fourth quarter.

That’s when Olson and the Eagles’ inconsistency from the charity stripe conspired against the No. 2 seed.

Turlock Christian was 6 of 16 from the free-throw line in the second half.

“We really struggled from the line today. Our shots were really bricking,” Santiago said. “We weren’t locked in. We weren’t smooth. We weren’t finishing those free throws.

“It’s happened to us before. It’s unfortunate it happened tonight. There’s nothing we can do about it, but yes, it would have been nice to hit some more free throws. I don’t know what we shot from the free-throw line, but it wasn’t pretty.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Turlock Christian girls fall to Sacramento Waldorf in Sac-Joaquin Section D-VI final."