The scouting report on the Pleasanton girls basketball team not only evolves and changes from game-to-game but even half-to-half.
The top-ranked Bulldogs’ balanced and varied attack has been an asset all season, and it was a major factor again Saturday as they closed out a 28-0 campaign with a 47-38 victory over the 2019 champion, fifth-ranked Archbishop Bergan, in the Class D-1 state championship game at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Katy Lindner scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half, hitting all four field goals she attempted, including two three-pointers. Fellow junior Natalie Siegel was the catalyst in Pleasanton’s second-half surge, scoring all of her 14 points after intermission on 3-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc, She also hit 5 of 6 free throws, including four in the final 23.2 seconds to help the Bulldogs close out their first girls state title in any sport since 1976.
In Pleasanton’s semifinal win over CWC, it was senior Cadee Nichols, despite an injured ankle, and junior Kaci Pierce who carried the Bulldogs with 18 points each. Nichols didn’t score in the Saturday's championship, while Pierce finished with 11.
“We have eight or nine girls who on any given night can go score 15 points,†said Pleasanton coach Jordan Arensdorf, whose team had lost in the state semifinals the last two years.
"We’re well-rounded, and I think that makes us tough to scout,†added Arensdorf, whose squad finishes as the lone undefeated team in the state this season.
Archbishop Bergan (16-10) led 22-20 at halftime after a three-point play by Allie DeGroff with just under a minute left in the second quarter. Another basket by the 5-foot-10 senior to open the third period gave the Knights a four-point lead. DeGroff finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
But that’s when the 5-7 Siegel started warming up. Siegel’s first three stopped Bergan’s run, her next one put Pleasanton in front to stay, 30-28, with under a minute left in the third period.
Those were Siegel’s first field goals of the entire tournament.
“I had some open shots the first couple games I couldn’t hit,†said Siegel, whose third three-pointer gave Pleasanton a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter (38-32). “I knew I needed to step up this game and take care of it.â€
Lindner was 0-of-10 from three-point territory for her career going into the championship, so the Knights sagged off her when she was on the perimeter.
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“When I was out there and she (the Bergan defender) wasn’t guarding me, I thought, ‘Shoot the ball,’ and I got it,†Lindner said. “The next time, she wasn’t on me again, so I thought, ‘I made the first one’, then I made another one. I got comfortable and everything was falling.â€
Bergan coach Nate Pribnow said the three-point shooting was the difference in the game. Pleasanton was 6-of-17 from beyond the arc and Bergan ended up 2-of-13.
“We had a handful of open opportunities from the same spots they (Pleasanton) hit from but couldn’t get them to go down,†Pribnow said. “They went on a couple of runs in the third quarter to switch the momentum, then we were never able to cut into those leads after they extended them.â€
Pleasanton’s defense, particularly on Bergan’s leading scorer Lauren Baker, was also a factor. Baker, a 5-10 junior, finished with nine points, five under her season average, and made 4 of 15 shot attempts.
“They focused in on me and made sure I didn’t get anything easy,†said Baker, who has faced junk defenses designed to slow her down all season. “It’s frustrating every time.â€
Photos: Pleasanton downs Archbishop Bergan to capture Class D-1 crown