No. 12 Pinewood hopes to bring home title like Golden State Warriors

Video: Pinewood shocks Mitty
Watch the Panthers fight back from a 16-point deficit to defeat national No. 1 and unbeaten Mitty.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It's a trend that appears here to stay. Been here for a least a couple years now. ere to stay. Everyone wants to play basketball like the Warriors: up-tempo, pressure and share the ball, shoot threes, have fun.

Pinewood (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) girls coach Doc Scheppler continues to roll his eyes. He has for a while.

"We've been playing that way for years," he said. "What's the big deal?"

Pinewood, winner of 604 games and six state titles since Scheppler took the job in 1995, is again a big deal.

Especially after knocking off national No. 5 St. Mary's (Stockton) on the road and No. 1 Mitty last week. The Panthers (27-2) are now ranked 12th in the country by MaxPreps.

If they can knock off No. 21 Windward (Los Angeles, Calif.) in Saturday's 6 p.m. CIF Open Division state championship at Golden 1 Arena, they'll be the biggest deal in school history.

The tiny school of 210 titles have won their six other crowns in their small-school enrollment size. The CIF implemented the highest competitive-equity based Open Division in 2013 and the Panthers have been a part of big-girl bracket the last three years.

This would be the feather in their cap — their three-point swish in a program that has forever preached playing the game the right way.

Often with a short bench and even shorter players, the three-pointer has been the great equalizer for the Panthers. And the best ways to create space are ball movement, quickness and thriving in the open court. Call them the original Warriors.

Appropriately, their possible crowning jewel will be played at an NBA arena.

"We've had people approach us for years and tell us they like our style, that we play the right way," Scheppler said. "None of it is by accident. The girls work their tails off. They play so hard. All 32 minutes."

It would be so easy to revel in it all, the past week. Beating unbeaten and longtime nemesis Mitty in front of a capacity crowd at the Leavey Center on the campus of Santa Clara University was the sensational. They fought back from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter to win in triple overtime.

"Dreamy," is how Pinewood star junior Hannah Jump described it all. "Amazing. Couldn't wish for anything more."

Except one more thing. The only thing missing in Pinewood's trophy case is an Open championship.

"It's been our goal since day one this season," Scheppler said. "Our mindset all season was we had to get through Mitty and winning the Open title. Mitty was the standard. The blueprint."

So, since they slayed the Dragons, and spent all that energy doing it — Jump (24 points, nine rebounds) and 5-3 point guard Brianna Claros (20 points, five assists) played all 44 minutes Saturday and 5-9 junior Klara Astrom (13 rebounds) and 5-3 junior Kaitlyn Leung (14 points) played 42 — could Pinewood have nothing left for Windward, coached by former Stanford great Vanessa Nygaard?

"Not a chance," Scheppler said. "No way."

Said Jump, a 5-11 junior who has already committed to Stanford: "We've talked about it all week. It was a great week, but it will mean next to nothing if we don't finish our business. We have to stay focused."

But also loose. The Panthers were able to come back on Mitty, Scheppler said, because they had the role of the hunter. They were down big against the Princesses of girls basketball. They played like there was nothing to lose.

On Saturday, they go in as a slight favorite, making Windward (26-3) the hunters. The two teams or coaches have never met.

"I watched (Nygaard) play many times at Stanford," Scheppler said. "She was a feisty, scrappy player every coach wants on their team. I assume her team will mirror those traits."

He's watched Windward point guard Charisma Osborne, a 5-9 guard rated the No. 22 junior prospect in the country by ESPN. She had 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a 62-50 Southern California regional title win over defending Open champion Clovis West. Seniors Sela Kay and Kamil English added 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the victory.

"(Osborne) is the real deal," Scheppler said. "They spread the floor and do some pick-and-rolls and have shooters to kick to. It's going to be a big challenge. We'll have our hands full. But I have confidence in our girls. The bigger the environment, the bigger they play."

To make sure the Panthers soak in the environment, the team is arriving in Sacramento Friday, will shoot around at a local gym and attend one of Friday's championship games.

Said Scheppler: "I want this to be an experience they never forget."