Pierce’s Jocelyn Medina eclipsed the 2,000 point mark for her career during the SVL championship game against Colusa on Feb. 11.
A three point basket at the end of the first quarter against Colusa, in the Sacramento Valley League championship game, lifted Pierce junior Jocelyn Medina over the 2,000 point mark for her career last Friday night, as the Bears held on for the 42-36 victory.
It was the fourth contest between the two rivals this season, and while Pierce has swept the RedHawks, the six point differential was the closest result this year, given that the Bears had won the previous three games by an average of 23 points.
And while Colusa deserves credit for fighting back from a 13-point deficit to make it interesting in the final period, the run wasn’t enough to offset another Herculean effort from Medina, who finished with a double-double, which included 35 points and 10 rebounds.
Averaging 38 points per game, in 26 contests this year, Medina is now, based on statistics posted on MaxPreps, just 47 points off the Northern Section single season scoring mark of 1,072 points, set in 2004 by Las Plumas’ Danielle Orsilllo.
In the game against Colusa, Medina was basically unstoppable driving to the basket. And he showed range from outside as well, but played a more significant role on the boards than in the prior three games.
For the RedHawks, who were not as aggressive attacking the basket and struggled with turnovers, Abby Myers had a team-high 13 points, while Danica Chavez pitched in with 10 points.
To get to the championship game, Pierce downed East Nicolaus 56-41, behind 41 points from Medina and a strong outing from Cassie Sanchez, who dropped in five points, while Colusa rallied from behind in Durham to edge the Trojans 37-33, after getting 12 points from Reese Roper, along with 10 apiece from Chavez and Jessica Deniz.
Now on a 10-game win streak, Pierce (21-6), the Sacramento Valley League champion and No. 3 seed in the Northern Section CIF Division IV playoffs, earned a first round bye and will play Friday night at home against the winner of the game between No. 6 West Valley and No. 11 Gridley.
Meanwhile, the No. 9 RedHawks (17-9) traveled to Shasta Lake on Feb. 15 to square off against No. 7 Central Valley, a team they lost to 47-40 in the second game of the season. ■