CHICO – Butte Valley’s season ended with a 47-45 overtime loss to the Hayfork Lady Timberjacks, on Friday afternoon at Chico State University. The Lady Bulldogs finished the season with a record of 21-2 and the NSCIF Division-VI runner up plaque. Coach Mike Cross called it a “dream season.”

Butte Valley resembled its English Bulldog namesake for the first four and a half minutes of the opening quarter—sort of slow and lumbering. The Lady Bulldogs were down 10-0 when Cross called a time out.

Coming out of the huddle, Butte Valley switched to pit bull mode, with aggressive in-your-face defense. Butte Valley translated the improved defense into six straight points on a put-back by Tylor Cilione, a 3-ball from Sanna Jarvinen, and a freebie from Anna Makinen. Hayfork hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the quarter and led 13-6 going into the second quarter. Hayfork wouldn’t score again for almost four minutes.

Jarvinen opened the second quarter with a pair from the charity stripe, making it 13-8. A steal-n-score by Bethany Holguin cut the deficit to three points, 13-10. Cilione drove the lane to make it a one-point game, 13-12, with 6:00 to go in the half.

Hayfork hit from downtown to up its lead to 16-12, but Makinen answered with a long distance call to draw back within one point, 16-15. A hoop by Holguin gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead of the contest at 17-16, with 2:40 left until the intermission. Hayfork regained the advantage, 18-17, but another Holguin bucket gave Butte Valley a 19-18 lead going into the locker room.

The score was knotted at 21-21 in the third quarter, when Cilione converted an old fashioned 3-point play, making it 24-21 in favor of Butte Valley. With the score 25-25, Kai Braren hit a jumper from beyond the arc to put the Lady Bulldogs up 28-25 going into the fourth quarter.

Freebies by Cilione and Gloria Ramirez, as well as two from Braren upped the Bulldogs’ advantage to seven points, 32-25. Hayfork then went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 34-34 with 2:13 left in regulation.

A Holguin free throw put the Bulldogs back up 35-34, but Hayfork quickly took the lead on a 3-pointer, 37-35. Jarvinen drove for a bucket to tie it at 37-37, with just under a minute to go, sending the game to overtime.

Overtime began with controversy, as an official failed to make a proper toss on the jump ball, with the ball going decidedly to the Hayfork side of the circle. The officials failed to correct the mistake and play continued, despite vociferous protests from the Butte Valley bench. A foul call against Butte Valley followed, leading to two Hayfork points via the charity stripe, making the score 39-37.

The Lady Bulldogs tied it up again on a basket by Braren, 39-39. Hayfork scored the next six points to take what seemed to be a commanding lead 45-39, with 35.6 seconds remaining to play. However, Jarvinen was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 27.2 to go, and converted all three freebies, making it 45-42.

The Bulldogs came with all out pressure and forced a Lady Timberjack to pick up her dribble near the baseline in the backcourt. The Butte Valley defender stayed stationary, as the Hayfork player pivoted and lost her balance. Despite little or no contact, the Lady Bulldog was whistled for a foul, leading to two more Hayfork points, making it a 5-point game, 47-42, with 20.3 left on the clock.

Jarvinen kept hope alive when she nailed a 3-ball with 13 seconds left. Butte Valley forced a lose ball off the ensuing in bounds play. A Lady Bulldog dove on the ball and Cross called for a time out—a call that was not recognized by the officials. Instead the Bull Dog was called for traveling. Butte Valley again caused a turnover on the in bounds play, and was able to get off a shot with about two seconds on the clock. The shot was no good, and Hayfork escaped with a 47-45 win.

Sanna Jarvinen led Butte Valley with 15 points, Tylor Cilione put up nine, and Kai Braren had eight points. Cilione was recognized with the sportsmanship award.

Following the game, Butte Valley coach Mike Cross summed up the game.

“It was a great game for both sides. I though Hayfork did a great job executing when they needed to. It was a dog fight from one end to the other. I mean, what more could you ask for in a championship game,” said Cross.

Commentary

I was going to go off on a full rant about the officiating, but suffice it to say that both basketball teams were D-VI championship caliber. The officials were, at best, junior high school consolation game caliber. There are only 10 games over two days at the section finals. You’d think the section could find enough competent officiating crews for those games.