SUNRISE GIRLS: Falcons outplayed early, but stay calm, don’t ‘hit panic mode’

Foothill girls basketball coach Eric Kruger tried not to panic as he watched his team being outplayed by Coronado throughout the first half Thursday.

The coach had seen his team overcome previous deficits, so he remained calm and eventually was rewarded when the Falcons rallied late in the second quarter and continued that roll the rest of the way to pull out a 60-50 victory over the Cougars in the Sunrise Region semifinals at Liberty.

The win lifted Foothill into the championship game, where the Falcons (21-7) will play Liberty (24-3) at 5 p.m. Friday.

Taylor Turney did the heavy work for Foothill, logging 32 points and six rebounds.

“I told myself I wouldn’t hit panic mode until the fourth quarter,” said Kruger, whose team finally took the lead with 1:06 left in the first half. “We’ve built a trust with these girls, and fortunately Taylor and Katey (Roquemore) started putting down their shots.”

It was a team effort that put the Cougars (18-11) ahead early. They outrebounded the Falcons 13-6 in the first quarter and took their biggest advantage when Payton Caci drove to the hoop for a layup to make it 22-14 with 5:40 left in the half.

But Turney, who hit all 12 of her free throws in the game, scored 12 points in the second quarter, and finally gave Foothill the lead at 29-28 with a pair of foul shots at the 1:06 mark. The Falcons finished with a 7-0 scoring spurt to take a 32-28 lead into halftime.

“Taylor makes it look easy when she’s on,” Kruger said. “She’s unlike any other player I have ever coached.”

The Falcons remedied their rebounding troubles in the second half and surged ahead, taking their biggest lead when Turney nailed two more free throws to make it 48-36 with 1:54 left in the third quarter. She followed with a 12-foot runner a minute later, and the Falcons led 50-38 after three quarters.

“The girls just stuck to the plays down the stretch,” said Kruger, whose team committed just 10 turnovers. “They stuck with what we planned and played some tough defense in the second half.”

Coronado’s Kayla Watterson attempted to carry her team back with several late free throws and layups, but Foothill effectively answered each rally attempt.

Roquemore, who combined with Turney to score 30 of the Falcons’ 32 first-half points, finished with 13 points. Teammate Trinity Betoney provided some second-half energy and finished with four points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Watterson finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars, and teammate Dajah Washington added 10 points.

Liberty 67, Green Valley 34 — Kealy Brown had 20 points, six rebounds and four steals to help the Patriots rout the Gators in the other semifinal.

Brown, who scored 17 of her points in the first half, got plenty of help from teammate Paris Strawther, who added 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“Those two have been our big leaders all year,” Liberty coach Chad Kapanui said. “Especially in games like this, you can tell they’re here to play. When you have two special players like that, they’re hard to stop.”

The Patriots led 40-16 at halftime and wasted no time putting the game away in the second half. They scored the first 15 points of the third quarter to extend their lead to 55-16 while limiting the Gators to a flurry of unsuccessful perimeter shots.

“You always try to start off the game and the second half good,” Kapanui said. “And if you have the lead, you want to extend it right away.”

Aubre Fortner finished with nine points and three rebounds to help Liberty, which dominated the paint throughout the game. Teammate Celine Quintino scored only two points, but had 13 assists.

Yamilei Rodriguez had eight points to lead Green Valley (19-10).