Bonita coaches Darren Baumunk and Bruce Becker have everyone's attention in a close game that wasn't decided until the waning minutes.

Trailing 35-32 at the end of the third quarter, the Bonita Bearcats went on a 21-8 fourth quarter surge to spear the Palos Verdes High School, 53-43, at the Sea Kings’ home gym.

With under five minutes to play in the game, Bonita’s Brianna Kennedy scored on an assist from Taylor Anderson to give the Bearcats a 38-37 lead that they would not relinquish. Kennedy played one of the biggest games of her Bonita career, scoring 16 points.

She was joined by her teammate Nikki Wheatley, who had a team-high 19 points, including a monster 10-point half to keep the Bearcats close. All night, the Sea Kings really had no answer to stop her penetrating drives in the lane.

For a time, however, it looked as if the Sea Kings would be hard to catch on their home gym. The Sea Kings took a 16-6 first quarter lead, pushing it to 18-6 early in the second quarter, before the Bearcats started to rally. Trailing 20-11, Bonita went on a 10-run to lead 21-20. The Sea Kings righted the ship to take a 24-21 lead into the locker room at at the half.

All but two of the Sea Kings’ first 24 first-half points came from the dynamic duo of guard Victoria Yutronich and center Kelsey Brockway. For the game, Yutronich led all scorers with 22 points while Brockway pumped in 16 points.

In the third quarter both teams played to a draw. It was Bonita who first came out swinging, putting together a 6-0 run on a basket by Wheatley and a pair of deuces by Kennedy. In fact, Kennedy and Wheatley did all the damage in the quarter for the Bearcats, Kennedy scoring eight points and Wheatley, four. At the end of the third, Bonita trailed 35-32.

In the fourth quarter, Kennedy put the Bearcats on the prowl again. Her basket and a follow-up bucket by Taylor Anderson gave Bonita a 36-35 lead. The edge didn’t last long, as Yutronich answered right back with two points of her own to give the Sea Kings a 37-36 edge. That would be their last, however, as the Bearcats finally got into high gear. Equally, important, Bonita’s defense stiffened, holding Brockway to a single fourth-quarter basket.

“I really like the way we played down the stretch,” Bonita coach Darren Baumunk said. “Everybody started to get involved. Maddy’s (Zylstra) rebounds and free throws, Taylor, Nikki, Taylor, Bree, Jackie, they all put it on the line and came through when it counted.”

Bonita’s win sets up a semifinals match with Bishop, whom the Bearcats played earlier in the season, losing a buzzer-beater, 57-55, at Azusa Pacific. The site for the Saturday night game has not been announced.

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