Girls Basketball: Dougherty Valley Marches into NCS Finals

No. 1 Dougherty Valley 54, No. 5 Dublin 41

The Star: Dougherty Valley's Caroline Hughes led all scorers with 19 points, including 10 in the first quarter. Teammate Rayven Brooks added 16 points in the win.

The Turning Point: Dougherty Valley used a 12-0 run to end the first half to give the Wildcats a 35-14 cushion and a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

The Quote: “Even though we won both games the first two times around, it's tough to win three straight, and we knew they would come out fighting tonight." — Dougherty Valley coach Doug Vanderhorst.

Who's Next? Dougherty Valley advances to the North Coast Section Division II title game on Friday where it will host No. 2 Clayton Valley.

The Bottom Line: The Wildcats built an early lead, but would hang on down the stretch after a sloppy second half.

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The girls basketball team won't have to travel far on Friday when it tries to bring home their first North Coast Section title in school history.

After the Wildcats took care of business aginst No. 5 Dublin 54-41 on Wednesday for the third time this season, they earned the right to host the Division II title game against second-seeded Clayton Valley, which advanced by beating No. 3 Santa Rosa.

Dougherty Valley's Caroline Hughes poured in 19 points, while teammate Rayven Brooks added 16 points in the win. The dynamic duo have complimented each others game all season long.

"Offensively, we did what we've done all year," Hughes said. "We run the break and we swing the ball. And we take advantage when we can."

Dougherty Valley advances to the NCS finals for the second consecutive season, falling last year to Bishop O'Dowd 60-49 in the Division III finals.

The Wildcats started the game on a 13-1 run, 10 of the points coming from Hughes.

Dublin's Cathrine Kruschke, who led the Gaels with 14 points, hit a three with two minutes, 12 seconds left in the second quarter to cut the Dublin deficit to 23-14. From that point, Dougherty Valley showed why it's the top-seeded team.

The Wildcats would go on a 12-0 run to close out the first half, complimented by Brooks and Hughes.

"Even though we won both games the first two times around, it's tough to win three straight, and we knew they would come out fighting tonight," Dougherty Valley coach Doug Vanderhorst said.

Dublin outscored the Wildcats in the second half, but the hole was too deep to get out of.

"Coach told us he was proud of us, that we played hard, and proud that we never gave up," Kruschke said. "We figured the third time would be the charm and that we had a chance to come in here and compete."

The Gaels, though falling in the semifinals, still advance to the California Interscholastic Federation Nor Cal playoffs next week.

"We are looking forward to playing in Nor Cals and giving it another shot," Kruschke said."

Vanderhorst is proud the Wildcats are playing in the finals, a goal which was set at the beginning of the year, but knows there is still more to improve on.

"I thought our ball movement wasn't very crisp, most of our points came in transition," Vanderhorst said. "We haven't really had a team play man-to-man defense on us for a month, and they did it well tonight. Dublin is a good team. They've got a good post player and a good point guard. They have the pieces to win."

Dub