RHS girls basketball triumphs as champions in Wolverine Shootout
Mauldin selected tournament MVP
By Bill Tamburrino
The Ramona High School girls basketball team was without the services of video technician Bailey Marshall and head coach Dan Marshall last week, but the two men played a part in the Lady Bulldogs’ Black Division Championship win at the Wolverine Shootout.
Bailey Marshall was the recipient of a new liver on Jan. 1, and Dan Marshall remained with his son at UCLA Medical Center as Bailey recuperated from the surgery.
While at UCLA, Dan Marshall kept in contact with assistant coaches Ken Scheib and Jim Conroy. He also watched tapes of the Lady Dawgs’ opponents and helped prepare the game plans.
Bailey filmed Ramona’s 63-38 loss to West Hills High School earlier in the season. While at UCLA, both Marshalls went over the tape and came up with a game plan for the championship game of the Wolverine Shootout where Ramona bounced back to post a 45-43 upset victory over the host team to win the championship.
Katherine Mauldin was named the tournament’s MVP as she dominated the boards at both ends of the court and recorded three double doubles and dished off assists on offense. On defense she blocked shots, recorded steals and shut down the top scorer in the tournament.
“It may be a cliché but the tournament championship was a team championship in every sense of the word. Katherine had a great tourney but every member of the team played in the tourney and contributed to wins. Kailey (Hill) had to be the second in the voting of the MVP. She too had a great tourney. Christina (Barrameda) directed our attack from her point guard position and played great defense. Players came off of the bench and scored and recorded steals. Every girl played tough defense. Coach Marshall would be proud. Make that is proud of them!” stated interim head coach Scheib.
When asked if he was surprised with the championship, Dan Marshall said, “No! That boy (Scheib) can coach! We were injured the last time we played West Hills. We don’t make excuses, we just work hard to get better. Six wins in a row against winning teams and good competition. We bounced from a 4-6 record to 10-6 by doing what we do. Working hard and playing as a team.”
The Jan. 4 championship game was a typical Lady Bulldog victory. The girls played vicious defense and team offense. It was a close contest all the way to the finish. The score was tied at 16 after one period of play. Then Ramona’s defense went to work and the team took a 27-25 lead into the locker room. Ramona led 37-33 going into the final eight minutes but West Hills rallied to take a 41-40 lead. With 1:38 left in the game, Kylee Scheib hit a jump shot to give Ramona a lead that it would not relinquish. Hill hit two free throws and Mauldin hit another, and Ramona held on to win 45-43.
The Lady Bulldog defense did not give up a field goal in the final quarter.
Kailey Hill was the game MVP for the Lady Dawgs as the senior forward scored a game-high 13 points, grabbed nine boards, had a steal, assists and a blocked shot. Chiara Mattern scored 11 points. Scheib came off the bench to score 9. Mattern and Scheib each hit 3-point shots. Mauldin controlled the boards with 14 rebounds and scored 7 points. Mauldin rebounded in double figures in every game of the tournament. Christina Barrameda scored 3 points and grabbed seven boards and led the team with five steals. Lauren Werhanowicz scored 2 points and grabbed three boards. Ashlyn Savage played tough on defense.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the Wolverine Shootout by beating El Capitan High School in the first game of a double header 39-35. Ramona jumped out to an early lead by putting relentless pressure on the Vaqueros to lead 13-2 after one quarter. The second quarter was a repeat of the opening stanza and the Lady Dawgs led 22-4 at intermission.
Coach Scheib substituted liberally in the second half and called off the pressure. El Capitan outscored Ramona 31-17 in the second half but never threatened to take the lead.
Mauldin led all scorers and rebounders, despite playing only about half of the time, as she scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards. The pressure defense forced 17 turnovers. Hill had four steals and Barrameda had three. Werhanowicz, Hannah Farhat, Mauldin and Emily Sojourner had two steals apiece. Hill (7), Mattern (8), Werhanowicz (4), Barrameda (3) and Farhat (3) also scored for Ramona. On defense Molly McLeod, Savage, Kylee Scheib and Sojourner grabbed two boards apiece.
Ramona pulled off the upset of the tournament as the it beat Templeton High School (8-2) 52-44.
“Going into the game we didn’t know how we could stop Mari Stewart. She was averaging 27 points a game and 17 rebounds a game. We found the answer: Katherine Mauldin. It was a good thing that we could rest our starters against El Cap because they played hard and found a way to beat a very good team with a very good player,” said Ken Scheib.
Mauldin got the call in guarding Stewart and held her well below her season average in scoring and rebounding. Mauldin also completely controlled the boards as she grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds to go with her 11 points. Barrameda led the team in scoring and assists on offense and steals on defense as she scored 13 points, dished off three assists and had four steals. Hill scored 12 points and had six deflections. Mattern (9), Werhanowicz (4), Farhat (2) and Kylee Scheib (1) also scored in the upset victory.
A big second-quarter run propelled Ramona to an easy 53-40 win over Bishop High School. Mauldin continued to own the boards and blister the nets as she pulled off her fourth double of the week with 12 points and 21 boards. Hill led all scorers with 14 points. Mattern scored all six of her points by way of the 3-pointer. Farhat (5) and Sojourner (5) hit one shot apiece from beyond the arc. Werhanowicz (4) and Barrameda (5) also scored in the game.
The Ramona girls beat Del Norte High School (10-4) in the semifinals of the Wolverine Shootout to advance to the championship game as they got off to a 13-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back, cruising to a 41-30 victory.
Ramona used its usual smothering defense and had a balanced offense to beat the Nighthawks. Mauldin controlled the boards as she led both teams with 13 rebounds to go with her 8 points as she led the team in assists.
As a team, Ramona out-rebounded the Nighthawks 45-34. Barrameda led the Lady Dawgs with 9 points and had six steals and seven rebounds. Werhanowicz grabbed eight boards and scored 2 points. Hill scored 8 points and grabbed nine boards. Farhat hit Ramona’s only 3-point goal and scored 5 points. Mattern scored 6 points and Kylee Scheib scored 2.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the So Cal Holiday Classic on a winning note by beating La Habra High School 50-40 on Dec. 30.
Mauldin led the Lady Dawgs with another double double as she scored 17 points and pulled down a monster number 25 rebounds. Mauldin had 17 offensive boards, many of which led to her scoring. Hill also had a double double as the senior forward scored 12 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.
Barrameda just missed a double double as she grabbed 16 rebounds to go with her 9 points. Mattern (7), Werhanowicz (2) and Farhat (3) also scored for the Lady Dawgs. Savage and Sojourner contributed by grabbing rebounds and playing well on defense.