WATSONVILLE — Julisa Vega pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for Watsonville High on Thursday night.
The Wildcatz needed all of them to hold off rival Pajaro Valley High.
With Watsonville nursing a one possession lead during the final minute, the 6-foot-2 senior center snatched an offensive board and threw it back in to help the Wildcatz escape with a 48-42 victory in their Monterey Bay League Pacific division opener.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to go in. It was so nasty,” Vega said of her final game-sealing shot. “Once I let it go, I said, ‘what the heck did I just do?’ Then I saw it go in and I was like, ‘OK, at least it went in.’ It’s still nasty but it went in.”
After nearly blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, Watsonville (9-4, 1-0) will take it.
Pajaro Valley (5-5, 0-2) trailed by 11 heading into the final stanza, but junior guard Jayleen Solorzano rallied the Grizzlies back into the contest by scoring eight of her 19 points over the final eight minutes.
Junior forward Michelle Ibarra-Castillo split a pair of free throws with a little over a minute left to bring Pajaro Valley within three, but the Grizzlies went cold from there.
“I think the girls were just fired up and they wanted to win,” said Pajaro Valley first-year head coach Lupe Quintero. “We realized that we needed to pick up our defensive intensity and get more aggressive.”
Ibarra-Castillo chipped in 11 points to aid Solorzano’s effort, but no other Grizzly scored above five.
Watsonville senior point guard Savanah Quintana had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals; senior wing Evelyn Rios finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four assists; and Ruby Galvan added eight points.
Vega led the Wildcatz in scoring with 15 points and also had three blocks to go along with her game-changing putback.
“That one kind of sealed the deal for us,” said Watsonville head coach Randy Braga. “She’s come a long way.”
And her development bodes well for the Wildcatz, who are hoping to win the league title a year after finishing second.
Watsonville, which has not won a league championship since the 2012-13 season, will continue its MBL-P campaign on Tuesday at home against Alvarez High, another team tabbed as one of the top squads in the league.
“Staying calm is our main focus,” Vega said. “We’re still learning to play really good defense all-around because we could lose a game if we don’t play good defense.”
Braga said his team has plenty to improve on until next week. Cutting down on turnovers, he said, was chief among them. Watsonville had 18 giveaways.
“I like the way we’re sharing the ball but there were some careless passes here and there,” Braga said. “We are sharing the ball better than we did last year.”
The game was tied after the first quarter, but Watsonville jumped out to a five point lead at the half and went on an 8-0 run at the beginning of the third to give itself some cushion.
Quintana’s deep 3-pointer with a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter gave Watsonville a 14-point lead, but Solorzano’s three-point play and Ibarra’s jumper in the waining moments of the quarter shaved the lead to 11 heading into the fourth.
Solorzano’s transition layup and swish from beyond the arc made it a 3-point game with four minutes left, but that was as close as the Grizzlies would come, as Watsonville made just enough plays down the stretch to survive.
“[Solorzano] is phenomenal,” Braga said. “I think she’s [NCAA Division I] caliber…She’s going to be the toughest guard that we’ll play in league — the toughest matchup.”
And that has helped Pajaro Valley stay chipper despite starting its MBL-P season with a pair of heartbreaking losses. They lost to Monterey High by two just two days before in their league opener.
“I told them that this is one of the top teams and we were right there,” Quintero said. “We’re going to be fine.”
The Grizzlies will try to rebound at Christopher High on Jan. 11.
