Morro Bay girls basketball takes first matchup over Paso Robles in new Sunset League
In an opening matchup between two hot San Luis Obispo County teams joining the new Sunset League, Morro Bay’s girls basketball team got the best of Paso Robles, winning 47-38 on Tuesday.
The Pirates (12-4) played solid one-on-one defense at home to stymie the Bearcats (10-5), who won the Ocean League last year.
Morro Bay was successful passing the ball and looking for gaps in the Paso Robles’ zone defense, led by 5-foot-10 senior Nevaeh Dyer.
The Pirates were led by Violet Pace, who drained three 3-pointers and had a team-high 13 points.
“I’ve been practicing the 3-point shot a bunch, but I was also practicing driving and floaters, but my floaters weren’t hitting so I was mainly taking threes tonight,” said Pace, a sophomore. “My goal this year is to be more confident because as a freshman last season, it was really different going from middle school to varsity. I have the opportunity to be more confident driving and taking more shots now.”
Morro Bay also had key contributions from its three senior leaders in Georgie Wheeler, who made three second half 3-pointers to add nine points; senior Tailor Morrison also added nine and fellow senior Fiona Durham tallied 10 points on the night. Point guard Zoe Fitzwater, a 5-1 sophomore point guard, added 10 assists.
“I was really happy with the team’s communication,” Wheeler said. “We had a plan going in on defense, and I feel like we executed it well, and we communicated really well together. Movement on offense was our strategy for sure.”
Wheeler said: “I really like this team this year. I mean, I love it every year, but this is a solid team and I love this team. We have good chemistry.”
Fifth-year Pirates Coach Alex Engel said that he was pleased with his team’s patience in finding ways to attack the Bearcats’ zone, and willingness to share the ball, an indication of how connected they are as a group on and off the court.
“We knew that if we could move the ball and find the openings, there’s always a weakness if you can be patient,” Engel said. “That’s the main thing, can you be patient enough? And generally speaking, we were pretty patient tonight and they were able to find openings.”
Joining a new league
Engel said that the new Sunset League consists of multiple teams that are ranked in the upper tier of the CIF-Central Section and upper third statewide.
Besides Morro Bay and Paso Robles, the Sunset League consists of four other teams with winning records thus far in the season: San Luis Obispo (10-7), Cabrillo (12-3), Mission Prep (7-6) and Santa Maria (13-5).
“It’s a strong league,” Engel said. “And it won’t be easy.”
The Mountain and Ocean leagues have been reorganized by team with the goal of parity, Engel said. Morro Bay was in the Mountain League last year and Paso Robles was in the Ocean.
Paso Robles was led Tuesday by Kate Harrington, who tallied 13 points; Riley Milder scored 10 points and Dyer added nine.
“I feel like I’m here to challenge the underclassmen to be better,” Dyer said of her senior campaign, her fourth year on varsity. “My goal is to be a better teammate and play hard this season.”
Coach Mark Martinez said Morro Bay “out-executed us tonight and put us in a position to take jump shots, and we just didn’t make them.”
“They beat us up on the boards a little bit,” Martinez said. “We have to get better on keeping them off the boards.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Morro Bay girls basketball takes first matchup over Paso Robles in new Sunset League."
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