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SACRAMENTO — Yalee Schwartz of the Shalhevet girls basketball team fell to the floor in the second quarter holding her face. The team’s fans, players and coaches collectively held their breath.
Déjà vu was seemingly unfolding in front of them.
Schwartz – the team’s best player – scored the first four points of last year’s CIF State final before suffering an ankle injury just five minutes into the contest. She was sidelined the rest of the game, resulting in a Firehawks loss.
Naturally, it was hard not think, ‘Oh, no. Not again.’
But this time Schwartz popped up off the hardwood, walked over to her coach Ryan Coleman as she was rubbing her eye and asked an important question.
“She asked me if her eye was red,” Coleman said. “I told her, ‘Yes, just like your hair.’ “
In a repeat matchup against San Domenico, Schwartz paced Shalhevet with 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 50-46 victory to lift the program’s first CIF State crown in the Division IV final at the Golden 1 Center Friday morning.
Shalhevet does it.
The Firehawks win the CIF State Division IV title with a 50-46 over San Domenico. Yalee Schwartz led the way with 21pts and 13rebs (11 of 16 FTs).
Coach Ryan Coleman gets his CIF crown in just his fourth season at the helm. pic.twitter.com/K8WE4XbNl0
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) March 10, 2023
Shalhevet is the first Jewish school to ever win a CIF State basketball championship.
“Last year we were the first school to ever make it to a CIF State final, now we are the first to win it,” Arielle Grossman said. “We know we are playing for much more than Shalhevet, we are playing for the Jewish community.”
Grossman was Shalhevet’s second-leading scorer with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and added 10 rebounds in a game that tells a different story when looking at the final box score. San Domenico outshot Shelhevet 65% to…
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