The high school basketball season started more than a month ago. For the Pinewood girls, it must have felt like it began over the weekend.
The perennial power from Los Altos Hills, unranked by the Bay Area News Group after losing four of its six games, welcomed Burlingame transfer Ava Uhrich for its matchup Saturday at third-raked Salesian.
All the 5-foot-11 senior did was score 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, grab eight rebounds and hand out three assists to help lead Pinewood to an eye-opening 67-62 victory.
Alex Facelo added 21 points for Pinewood, which shot an astounding 12-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Pinewood improved to 3-4.
Salesian, which won the Diamond Division at the West Coast Jamboree in late December, fell to 12-2.
Nyana Asiasi finished with 14 points and Makiah Asidanya and Sofia Fidelus each had 11 points for Salesian, last season’s Division I state champion.
Pinewood played well below its usual high standards with Uhrich ineligible through December and last season’s Bay Area News Group player of the year, Elle Ladine, now at the University of Washington.
The Panthers lost to Archbishop Riordan and Los Altos at the St. Francis tournament, which dropped their record to 1-4.
They closed out December with a 69-22 win over winless Capuchino.
Now, it appears, Pinewood is back among the Bay Area’s elite.
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 72, St. Ignatius 37
Freshman sensation McKenna Woliczko scored 21 points to lead Mitty, playing on the road in San Francisco, to a victory over St. Ignatius in a West Catholic Athletic League opener.
Haley Hernandez and Elana Weisman each scored nine points and Elle Hanson and Maya Hernandez added eight points apiece as Mitty improved to 10-2 heading into its showdown at home Wednesday against fourth-ranked Sacred Heart Cathedral.
SI fell to 5-7.
Etc.:
In boys basketball, top-ranked Dougherty Valley cruised at home past Berkeley 63-38 to improve to 15-1. The winning side played again without stars Ryan Beasley and Connor Sevilla, both ill. The Wildcats open East Bay Athletic League play on Tuesday at second-ranked San Ramon Valley, which is also 15-1.
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