{"id":3741642,"date":"2026-03-03T21:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/?p=3741642"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:23:28","slug":"cif-girls-basketball-big-second-half-propels-palma-past-san-domenico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/2026\/03\/03\/cif-girls-basketball-big-second-half-propels-palma-past-san-domenico\/","title":{"rendered":"CIF girls basketball: Big second half propels Palma past San Domenico"},"content":{"rendered":"

SALINAS — Reflection will come when the journey is over. For now, living for another practice is what is driving an infant program in uncharted waters.<\/p>\n

A big second half turned a game in doubt at the half into a rout as Palma opened the Northern California Division V girls basketball playoffs with a 70-41 win over San Domenico of San Anselmo. It was the 21st straight win for Palma, a Pacific Coast Athletic League record.<\/p>\n

Seeded No. 3 in the tournament, Palma (25-3) will host No. 8 Woodland Christian of El Dorado Hills — 69-43 winners over Oakland — on Thursday in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

“I have watched some film of them,” Palma coach Robbie Johnson said. “I never look past the opponent in front of us. I just wanted to see what they looked like and what to expect so we wouldn’t go into it blind.”<\/p>\n

Runner-ups in the SAC Joaquin Section to Bret Harte, the Sierra Delta League champion Cardinals are 29-3 this season, with one of their setbacks being a 64-41 loss to Alisal back in December.<\/p>\n

The 21 straight wins surpasses the 20 consecutive wins North Salinas put together in 2014 when it won a CCS Division I title and advanced to the NorCal DI quarterfinals. Notre Dame and Stevenson had runs of 19 straight wins in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

“Those were some great teams back then,” Johnson said. “I’m in awe of what these girls have achieved. This is a testament to the work these kids have put in.”<\/p>\n

On the heels of the program’s first Central Coast Section Division V title last Saturday, the Chieftains erupted in the third quarter on the offensive end behind Jeanine Williams, outscoring San Domenico 18-7 in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Johnson, who takes pride in his team’s defense, watched his squad hold San Domenico to 17 points in the second half after allowing 34 in the first half.<\/p>\n

“I hate when we walk the ball up,” Johnson said. “I want us to push on both ends. I know we’re in better shape. If you don’t want to run the floor, I’ll get someone else out there. Maybe it was my halftime speech that got to them.”<\/p>\n

Williams, who has had a strong postseason, led four players in double figures with 15 points, while Carolina Lorca collected a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds.<\/p>\n

“I kept telling the girls we’re giving you the answers to the test in practice,” Johnson said. “You just have to go out there and take the test. We can’t play for you.”<\/p>\n

The distribution of the ball in the second half opened up the offense for Palma, while Aleena Salas and Miyah Nickerson clamped down on the San Domenico point guard, who created headaches in the first half.<\/p>\n

“Our defense was a lot better,” Johnson said. “Miyah and Aleena made the adjustments on their point guard and slowed her down. That changed the game for them. We did a better job with our help defense.”<\/p>\n

The Chieftains also warmed to the rims from the perimeter in the second half as Jeanine Williams, Lorca and Salas all buried shots from beyond the 3-point arc during a 36-17 second half.<\/p>\n

Salas and Shekinah Williams both chipped in with 10 points, while Jeanine Williams collected five assists for the Chieftains, who have posted double-digit wins in 19 of their record 21 straight wins.<\/p>\n

“I think our girls might have taken them for granted in the first half, maybe didn’t respect them like we should have,” Johnson said. “I reminded them that if a team is here on this stage, they are here for a reason. I think the girls understand that now.”<\/p>\n

Division III<\/h4>\n

St. Bernard 51, Alisal 48: <\/strong>Mustering just one point in the final 3:01 of the game, the Trojans season came to a close, falling in the CIF Northern California Division III tournament.<\/p>\n

The Gabilan Division champions, who were bumped to the Central Coast Section Open Division tournament as one of the top eight teams in the section, finished the season 22-6.<\/p>\n

“I’m so proud of our program,” Alisal coach Claudia Morin said.<\/p>\n

Seeded No. 3 in Division III, the Trojans were in recovery mode after suffering three straight losses in the Open Division playoffs.<\/p>\n

St. Bernard, which beat Mission San Jose for the North Coast Section title, won the Humboldt Del Norte Little 5 League up in Eureka, going 23-8.<\/p>\n

Seeded No. 14 in the bracket, the Crusaders opened up a four-point halftime lead, only to see Alisal take a 37-36 lead into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Behind Gabilan Division Player of the Year Nayeli Gil Silva, Alisal stretched its lead to five before St. Bernard outscored them 5-1 in the final 3:01 of the game.<\/p>\n

Gil Silva and Lucy Peinado each finished with 12 points for Alisal, while Mia Rivera added 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Big second half lifts Palma into State NorCal DV girls’ quarterfinals; Alisal ousted in DIII opener<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":3739725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,408,67,66],"tags":[121,11071],"feature":[],"location":[9390,182,280,9391,9452,11246,281,282,283,284,285,286,279,287,11245,288,289,290,291,292,293,294],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[4569],"class_list":["post-3741642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-school-sports","category-latest-headlines","category-local-sports","category-sports","tag-high-school-basketball","tag-sports-newsletter","location-big-sur","location-california","location-carmel","location-carmel-valley","location-castroville","location-central-coast","location-del-rey-oaks","location-gonzales","location-greenfield","location-king-city","location-marina","location-monterey","location-monterey-county","location-moss-landing","location-northern-california","location-pacific-grove","location-pebble-beach","location-prunedale","location-salinas","location-sand-city","location-seaside","location-soledad"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"CIF girls basketball","print_title":"Big second half propels Palma past San Domenico","print_subheadline":"","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1772697600","print_slug":"MCH-L-GIRLS-BOLDL-0305","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Big second half lifts Palma into State NorCal DV girls' quarterfinals; Alisal ousted in DIII opener","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

SALINAS -- Reflection will come when the journey is over. For now, living for another practice is what is driving an infant program in uncharted waters.<\/p>

A big second half turned a game in doubt at the half into a rout as Palma opened the Northern California Division V girls basketball playoffs with a 70-41 win over San Domenico of San Anselmo. It was the 21st straight win for Palma, a Pacific Coast Athletic League record.<\/p>

Seeded No. 3 in the tournament, Palma (25-3) will host No. 8 Woodland Christian of El Dorado Hills -- 69-43 winners over Oakland -- on Thursday in the quarterfinals.<\/p>

\"I have watched some film of them,\" Palma coach Robbie Johnson said. \"I never look past the opponent in front of us. I just wanted to see what they looked like and what to expect so we wouldn't go into it blind.\"<\/p>

On the heels of the program's first Central Coast Section Division V title last Saturday, the Chieftains erupted in the third quarter on the offensive end behind Jeanine Williams, outscoring San Domenico 18-7 in the third quarter.<\/p>

Johnson, who takes pride in his team's defense, watched his squad hold San Domenico to 17 points in the second half after allowing 34 in the first half.<\/p>

Williams, who has had a strong postseason, led four players in double figures with 15 points, while Carolina Lorca collected a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds.<\/p>

The distribution of the ball in the second half opened up the offense for Palma, while Aleena Salas and Miyah Nickerson clamped down on the San Domenico point guard, who created headaches in the first half.<\/p>

\"Our defense was a lot better,\" Johnson said. \"Miyah and Aleena made the adjustments on their point guard and slowed her down. That changed the game for them. We did a better job with our help defense.\"<\/p>

Salas and Shekinah Williams both chipped in with 10 points, while Jeanine Williams collected five assists for the Chieftains, who have posted double-digit wins in 19 of their record 21 straight wins.<\/p>

Division III<\/h4>

St. Bernard 51, Alisal 48: <\/strong>Mustering just one point in the final 3:01 of the game, the Trojans season came to a close, falling in the CIF Northern California Division III tournament.<\/p>

The Gabilan Division champions, who were bumped to the Central Coast Section Open Division tournament as one of the top eight teams in the section, finished the season 22-6.<\/p>

\"I'm so proud of our program,\" Alisal coach Claudia Morin said.<\/p>

Seeded No. 3 in Division III, the Trojans were in recovery mode after suffering three straight losses in the Open Division playoffs.<\/p>

Behind Gabilan Division Player of the Year Nayeli Gil Silva, Alisal stretched its lead to five before St. Bernard outscored them 5-1 in the final 3:01 of the game.<\/p>

Gil Silva and Lucy Peinado each finished with 12 points for Alisal, while Mia Rivera added 10.<\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1772630852","print_workflow_exported_username":"David Kellogg","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"416","print_status":"410","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"norcal","print_publication":"","print_add_to_budget":""},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":3739725,"title":"MCH-L-PALMA-0228-06","filename":"MCH-L-PALMA-0228-06.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MCH-L-PALMA-0228-06.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/mch-l-palma-0228-06\/","alt":"","author":"70","description":"","caption":"Palma forward Carolina Lorca, shown here earlier this season, had a double-double Tuesday in her team's NorCal playoff win. 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