The Fortuna girls saw their NCS playoff ambitions come to an end on Wednesday, but they certainly went down fighting.
The No. 10 seed Huskies fell 72-65 at No. 7 Urban in San Francisco, but pieced together an inspirational second half to give themselves a shot at what would have been a remarkable comeback.
“I was proud of the girls’ effort,” Fortuna head coach Jesse Genaro said. “We battled back and had a chance to win it.”
Early in the game, the Huskies fell victim to some pinpoint shooting from the home team, which nailed seven 3-pointers in the opening period and a remarkable 10 for the first half.
Urban led by 16 at the interval.
“Anything they threw up, they were hitting, and they weren’t wide-open shots, they were good shots,” Genaro said. “I kind of felt like we were playing the Warriors.”
After making some halftime adjustments however, the second half was a completely different story, as the visitors clawed their way back into the game, holding Urban without a single 3-pointer the rest of the way.
The ever-reliable Charlotte Carroll finished with a team-high 21 points for Fortuna, while senior Camrin Dolcini closed out her high school career with another strong performance, finishing with 19 points.
The game was tied with 90 seconds remaining.
“It was a great team effort,” Genaro said.
Morgan Murray and Bailey Parker each also were instrumental in the comeback, finishing with nine and eight points, respectively.
Grace Shaha, who has battled some sickness this season, got her first start of the season and also turned in a strong performance.
“It was a great comeback,” Genaro said.
The coach added he was proud of the players’ efforts this season, in what was an up-and-down campaign for the team, which finished 13-12.
Seven of the team’s losses were by seven points or fewer.
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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.