Blog: Chargers Battled Back From Injuries to Win CIF Title; States are Next

The Agoura girls basketball teams struggled through injuries during the regular season, but once the playoffs started, the Chargers were healthy.    

The result was a historic run which culminated in a CIF-Southern Section 3AAA championship. Agoura defeated top-seeded Gahr, 60-39, in the finals played on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the Anaheim Convention Center.    

Next up for the Chargers is the first round of the state playoffs. Agoura (21-11) will be home against Sierra High, of tollhouse, in a game that will be played at Agoura High at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.    

In the win over Gahr, junior guard Kim Jacobs scored 30 points to lead the way. She had six 3-point field goals.    

"Going into the game I wasn't expecting to shoot that well," Jacobs said. "But once I started making my shots, I just kept shooting and they just kept going in. So I knew I had the hot hand."    

That wasn't the case for Gahr (22-9) and its top player, Jewelyn Sawyer. Although Sawyer finished with 23, she was frustrated by the Chargers' defense in the first half. Agoura was able to build a big lead and never look back.    

Agoura first-year coach Conley Oliver was glad to have the junior sharpshooter, Jacobs, on his side.    

"Kim is a pretty cool customer," he said. "No moment is too big. She just plays her game and if she's feeling it, then it's not like, 'Oh my gosh;' it's 'This is cool.' She has a very calm demeanor and she goes out and does it and has fun."    

While the Chargers weren't expecting a fourth place finish in the Marmonte League, it was, after all, a very tough league and injuries prevented Agoura from being a contender for a league title.    

However, all of the tough times seem to have strengthened the bonds within the team and readied the Chargers for the postseason.

"It was surprising how difficult league was for us this year," said senior forward captain Sydney Bennett. "It definitely prepared us for some of the tougher teams.    

"There were pressure-situations that we had to deal with during CIF and we were totally prepared for that because of the Marmonte League. And it's been incredible. It's totally different now than how our season went. Our chemistry has been great and it's just translated to on the court."    

Noam Leead, a junior point guard, is one of the Chargers players who has battled through injuries.    

"Fourth place in league wasn't what we had in mind, that wasn't our goal," Leead said. "We had a rough start to our season, but I think the playoffs was a fresh start for us.    

"It was kind of an opportunity for us to say, 'Okay, now this is the time to prove ourselves and to prove what Agoura is all about.' And everything came together at the right time. We've had a great run. It's amazing."    

Agoura easily won it's opening round playoff game on the road, 62-41 over Beaumont. It's only home playoff game (Wednesday will be the second) was an exciting 42-40 win over a tough Sonora High squad.    

The Chargers went back on the road to defeat Glendora, 59-44, in the quarterfinals and El Dorado, 41-36, in overtime in the semifinals. El Dorado will be playing in the same division in the state playoffs.

It was the win against Sonora that gave Oliver the certainty that his players were ready to vie for a CIF championship.    

"Going into that game I didn't really know," he said. "I mean, that was a good team we were going to play and I knew we had to play really good basketball. That's when I realized we were more resolved than we had been all year to play as a team.    

"That's when we really believed that we were going to do this. And after that game, we especially said: 'We are good and we're going out there and win.'"

Jacobs said that the adversity the Chargers faced helped them in the long run.

"We had a lot of injuries and weren't playing our best," Jacobs said. "Something just clicked once everybody came back right before the playoffs, and we're playing better right now."