Girls basketball: Redwood rallies, prevails in overtime thriller

Everyone watching the Redwood High girls basketball team battling Acalanes in the closing seconds of overtime in the North Coast Section Division I semifinal on Tuesday night knew where the ball was going.

Weaving past two trailing players, senior forward Kitty White scored a left-handed layup with 3 seconds remaining to seal the Giants’ exhausting come-from-behind victory, 47-46, sending Redwood to its second NCS final in three seasons.

“Big game,” said White, who scored a game-high 23 points. “I knew I had to get the basket and get something done. As soon as I got the ball, I was just like I need to go to the basket right now.”

Top-seeded Redwood (24-6) is set to face No. 7 Heritage (23-6) — which beat No. 11 Pinole Valley, 56-44, in the other semifinal.– at Marin Catholic in the NCS final at 7 p.m. on Friday. Tuesday’s victory also wrapped up a spot in next week’s NorCal playoffs for the Giants.

White’s game-ending heroics put an exclamation point on the Giants’ effort just to get into overtime. Redwood trailed 32-17 with 3 minutes, 55 seconds left in the third quarter before momentum shifted to the home team.

Then, once in OT, White scored five of the Giants’ six points to reinforce her stature as Redwood’s all-time leading scorer and MCAL MVP. The 5-foot-11 forward, who went over 1,500 points for her career (1,517) on Tuesday, has accepted a scholarship to play at Cal State Monterey Bay next season.

“I put the ball in Kitty White’s hands,” said Redwood coach Zach Borello. “She’s one of one. We all kind of knew Kitty was going to get the ball. It was beautiful. It was unbelievable.”

No. 4 Acalanes (21-9) had beaten Redwood 46-36 five weeks ago and the Dons looked poised for an upset when they built a 15-point advantage midway in the third period. White went on a personal 6-0 run to cut the Dons’ lead to 32-25 and freshman Phoebe Saibel hit a three-pointer to make it 32-28.

Brooke Denler was key in the fourth quarter, scoring six of her nine points. The 6-1 senior gave the Giants their first lead since early in the second quarter, scoring on an inbounds play with 3:04 remaining for a 38-37 edge.

Redwood’s Hindi Copeland, who had 15 rebounds and eight points, put the Giants ahead 41-39 before the Dons’ Sophia Fernandez tied the game at 41 to send it into overtime.

“I’m still trying to catch my breath,” said Borello. “That was a really good basketball game. I think us being at home was a little bit of an advantage for us.”

Redwood sophomore point guard Drew Schultz had the toughest defensive assignment of the night, harassing senior guard Lexi Le, who was held to eight points. The Giants also got key contributions from Saibel and sophomore Rachel Towns. The speedy Dons gave the Giants some trouble with fast breaks and baseline drives, and Saibel and Towns came off the bench to help counter that quickness.

“They gave us energy,” Borello said of Saibel and Towns. “They gave us some legs. They gave us a boost when we really needed one. Those are big minutes for a freshman and a sophomore in this environment.”

The Giants expect an electric environment on Friday night when they vie for their second NCS championship in program history. They won the Division II title in 2024.

“This team is on such a magical run, and it deserves to be celebrated,” said Borello. “Everyone needs to come watch this team play.”