Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic School varsity girls’ basketball team has been competitive the last 4 years in the All Catholic Conference (ACC). In three of the past four years, the team has earned two North Division titles (2013 and 2014), one undefeated season (2013), and three All Catholic Conference playoff appearances (2013, 2014, 2016). The teams in 2013 and 2014 did not win the semi-final playoff game. After the 2014 season, the team lost many key players due to graduation, and during 2015, the team went through some growing pains.
For the 2016 season, the Lady Cheetahs wanted to turn those pains into gains, so the quest of chasing a Championship began. The Lady Cheetahs dominated their opponents by defeating them on average by 20 points throughout the season. The team finished the regular season with a record of 8-2 and runner-up in the ACC North Division. Despite their success, the team still had to fight through some adversity. They had to learn to deal with defeat twice and learn how to finish the regular season in the first round of playoffs without their 8th grade point guard and leader, Alexa Gonzalez, due to a left wrist injury.
The team clinched a #1 seed in the ACC 2A Classification Playoffs, and played a semi-final game on December 10 against the #4 Lady All-Stars of St. Mary's Catholic School. The Lady Cheetahs came out victorious defeating St. Mary’s 40-24.
OLL played great team defense, and they were lead in scoring by the two youngest players on the team, 5th graders Sofia Mendez (17 points) and Jaden Castro (8 points). The team made history by being the first varsity girl team in any sport in Our Lady of the Lakes athletic history to make it to the championship game since the ACC instituted a playoff system by school classification in 2007.
On December 17, the girls got their opportunity to complete their championship mission versus the #3 seed, the Lady Knights of Holy Rosary-St. Richards at St. Brendan High School. The team went down by 8 points early and trailed the entire first half. The players and coaches had to change their defensive game plan and mind set when several players got into foul trouble. Despite what they had to overcome, the Lady Cheetahs finally took the lead in the third quarter and never looked back. The Lady Cheetahs defeated the Lady Knights by the final score of 41-35 and were named the All Catholic Conference 2016 2A Champions.
“With one experienced 8th grader hurt and not playing 100 percent healthy, the younger players and the rest of the players found a way to win against the tough, strong-willed, and highly skilled Holy Rosary team,” said coach Alan Gonzalez.
Castro (10 points) and seventh grader Nicole Sedeno (4 points, 5 blocks, and 7 rebounds) were named 2A All Stars Players of the game. Fifth grader Sofia Mendez was named the tournament 2A All Catholic Conference Most Valuable Player.