Vanden senior Tatum Jaylakai Johnson spoke with coach Allison after a competitive basketball season came to an end Thursday with the Vikings losing 58-50 to Oakland Tech in the 2024 CIF State Women's Basketball Division 2 Playoffs. – Receives a hug from Johnson. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)
If the Vanden High School Vikings hadn't gotten the Oakland Tech Bulldogs off to a 15-0 start, they might have advanced to the second round of the CIF Division II Girls State Basketball Championship.
But in reality, the Vikings found the Bulldogs 15 unanswered points to start the game, and it was too much to overcome in what turned out to be a 58-50 loss.
Vanden trailed 22-3 after the first quarter, but had a great run in the second half and finished the season with a 25-9 record.
“We knew how good we were offensively, so we were confident we could get away with it, so we had to stay calm,” co-head coach Jake Johnson said. “I'm proud of the girls. They fought hard. What we've preached all year is to fight, and I felt we fought to the end.”
Johnson expressed displeasure with the CIF and the state selection committee folding Division I schools like Oakland Tech into Division II slots.
“It's very frustrating,” he said. “It's unfortunate that it feels like the winning teams are being punished. This system is definitely very wrong. Division III has Division I teams, Division II has Division V teams. It’s not fair to the kids.”
In that regard, Johnson said there is no shame in losing to a strong program like Oakland Tech.
“Auckland Tech is not a No. 10 seed. They are literally the top team in this slot,” he said.
Johnson said the Vikings have improved this year and earlier this year, this type of game could have been a disaster. Being in the same situation now and seeing the team respond so well shows the maturity and growth of his team.
“We wanted them to go that way,” he said. “They went out and fought. I couldn't ask for more as a coach, but I wish we could have gotten off to a better start.”
In the first quarter alone, Vanden sent sophomore center Jay Johnson to the foul line and took 10 shots, converting nine of them. The Bulldogs bullied the Vikings on the boards throughout the first half, but their defense also gave them no chances in the lane.
Senior guard Jordan Taylor came on hot in the second quarter, scoring 11 points on three baskets from behind the arc, giving the Bulldogs a 38-15 heading into the half.
But in the third, the Vikings cut the lead, starting the quarter on a 12-2 run, with senior guard Jakayla Gilmer scoring nine points. They cut the deficit to 10 points with 1:14 left in the third and allowed just seven points — all from sophomore forward Terria Russell.
But Vanden's comeback stalled in the fourth quarter, when junior center La Miracle Lebon missed 6 of 8 free throws that could have brought the game closer heading into the final possession. Instead, the Bulldogs took a comfortable eight-point lead into the final minutes and closed out the game from there.
Looking ahead to next year, Johnson said it will be difficult to lose the core of the varsity's senior year. He said he has a great group of players returning, including all of the team's inside players, one of whom is his daughter.
“We're going to have a lot of talent coming back,” he said. “We lost those four guys, but we'll have a lot of talent coming back.”
