Coming off a Division V title last season, the Calvin Christian girls basketball team encountered an early obstacle on the way to a repeat attempt: a new head coach.
And Brad Jensen was not just any new coach. He was a 23-year-old practically fresh out of college.
But the new coach and the defending champs meshed early, and the result was a second straight section title for the Crusaders. Third-seeded Calvin Christian defeated top-seeded Escondido Adventist 41-28 at Cox Arena yesterday, an upset of sorts even though the teams split two meetings during the regular season.
“They bought into what we taught them,” said Jensen. “They made it easy for me.”
For a six-game stretch it wasn't easy. The Crusaders were without leading scorer and rebounder Nicole Tasooji. Calvin lost the second matchup against Escondido Adventist without the senior when she suffered a broken ring finger on her right hand.
The Crusaders (19-8) lost several games when Tasooji wasn't in the lineup, but she was all over the court yesterday, scoring a game-high 20 points to go with 15 rebounds, two steals and two assists.
“When it happened I cried in the emergency room,” Tasooji said of her broken finger. “But I had complete confidence in my teammates. I was OK sitting on the bench when we won, but when we lost it was a lot harder.”
Another senior, point guard Briana Jackson, added a big helping hand to Calvin Christian. She scored only four points, but two of those came on free throws that gave the Escondido school the lead for good at 13-11 early in the second period. She added a game-high eight steals and six assists, several of those to Tasooji.
“We really missed her,” Jackson said. “The team wasn't the same without her. I know I can count on her as a point guard, to catch the ball and take it to the basket.”
The Crusaders stressed togetherness this season, shouting the word “Together” as they broke huddles. They got together for some good defense, permitting Escondido Adventist to shoot just 31 percent (12-for-39) and forcing 22 turnovers. The Hawks (23-4) were led by senior forward Jillian Nicola with nine points, but leading scorer Jenny Buchheim was held to eight.
“You could tell they've been here,” Escondido Adventist coach Michael DeFreece said of Calvin. “It was good to get here, but we wanted to win.”
