LAFAYETTE – Slashing to the basket nigh at will, K.K. Lacanlale sliced apart visiting Cardinal Newman with what seemed to be dozens of precise cuts in Wednesday’s North Coast Section Open Division semifinal.
Her sharp moves, both with and without the ball, made it obvious that the 11-day break Acalanes enjoyed between league play and the playoffs had not taken the edge off of the Dons potent offense.
The result was a no-doubt-about-it 78-52 Acalanes rout over Newman, one where the top-seeded Dons shredded their North Bay guests in a second-half evisceration to advance to the program’s first Open Division title game.
“It feels like all of our hard work is paying off,” said Lacanlale, who won the NCS D-II title as a freshman in 2022.
Acalanes will play second-seed San Ramon Valley – which took down Carondelet 66-55 in the other semifinal – at Campolindo on Saturday night. The Dons legendary coach Margaret Gartner, who is looking to add a 12th NCS title to her trophy case, has the utmost respect for the Wolves and their equal-opportunity attack.
“They can all shoot, similar to us,” coach Margaret Gartner said of SRV. “Every girl on the court will hit a three if you leave her open.”
Lacanlale scored 13 points, including eight straight for Acalanes in the third quarter to help blow the game open. She also looked to set teammates up on many drives and finished the night with 10 assists.
The Dons raced out to a 22-12 first quarter lead, helped by shot-making by 23-point scorer Dulci Vail, who also had five blocks against Newman’s tall front line.
“The biggest challenge was just their length, because we haven’t seen teams like that in our league,” Vail said.
Her willingness to contest shots also got her into foul trouble, and with Acalanes’ only post-presence on the bench, CN was able to draw fouls on Lacanlale too and slow down the game.
Acalanes went into halftime up 39-31, and coach Margaret Gartner made one key adjustment.
“Don’t foul, and let them have it,” Gartner told her team.
With fouls no longer a problem, and still able to contest shots by keeping their arms straight up in the air, the Dons resumed their evisceration of Newman’s defense and turned the game into a rout.
Acalanes’ fastbreak offense, which produced 20 transition points, helped give the Dons easy offense, and even when they were forced to play more in the halfcourt, the Lafayette program’s perpetual motion offense kept Newman off balance.
Ariana Hallstrom put in 14 on a variety of tough shots, and Sophie Chinn scored 15 points and grabbed 13 boards. Lexxi Le dropped in 11 to round out the double-digit scorers for Acalanes.
Acalanes’ next opponent is a familiar one. The Dons defeated San Ramon Valley 72-57 in late December.
But that was months ago, and Acalanes knows that taking down a Danville powerhouse making its fourth consecutive appearance in the Open title game will not be easy. .
“We have to bring our A-game, because they’re a very good team as well,” Lacanlale said. “But if we play our game, I think we can do it.”