SANTA CLARA — Branham center Quinn Godfrey brought more than height to Mission College on Saturday for the Central Coast Section Division I girls basketball championship game.
The 6-foot-4 UC Merced-bound senior also carried along determination and a whole of skills that Evergreen Valley and its high-scoring guard, Ryka Aprameyan, could not completely match.
Aprameyan tried, but there simply was too much of Godfrey at both ends of the floor for Evergreen Valley to defeat one of its league rivals for the third time this season.
Second-seeded Branham captured the section championship, dethroning last year’s Division I winner 54-51 in a game that ended with Aprameyan’s three-point attempt in transition falling short at the buzzer.
Godfrey finished with 32 points, 19 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Incredible, yes, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. She also disrupted countless shots near the rim that was the difference between smiles and sadness afterward.
“She’s amazing,” Branham coach Nick Moreno said. “Since freshman year, she’s been working every day. This year she knew that she had to step up and she was ready to do it.”
If she hadn’t stepped up with 10 points in the third quarter and 11 more in the fourth, Evergreen Valley would have defended its crown.
The game had 11 lead changes and eight ties.
“This is so awesome,” Godfrey said. “We were Open Division last year. So we didn’t get a chance for a D-I title. It just means so much for our coaches and the franchise. We’re happy we got to bring this home.”
Branham poses for a team picture after it defeated Evergreen Valley 54-51 for the Central Coast Section Division I championship girls basketball game on Saturday, Feb, 24, 2024 at Mission College in Santa Clara. (Darren Sabedra/Bay Area News Group)
Having beaten Branham 60-57 on Jan. 23 and 58-52 on Feb. 8, Evergreen Valley seemed headed for another win in the first quarter. Aprameyan got off to a hot start for the 11 a.m. tip-off, making three of her four 3-pointers in the opening eighth minutes, including one at the buzzer that widened the Cougars’ lead to 19-13.
“We practice in the morning, so we were prepared for this morning game,” Evergreen Valley coach Drew Fenstermaker said. “We love the morning. We always practice in the morning.”
Aprameyan finished with 31 points after scoring 39 in the semifinals on Thursday.
Branham, which defended Aprameyan with a box-and-one, cooled off Evergreen Valley in the second quarter and went to the halftime locker room trailing by just two.
Godfrey made an impact in the first half. She dominated in the second.
Just about every time teammates passed to her in the low block, which seemed like every possession, she turned and kissed the ball off the glass for two points. Godfrey made 10 field goals in the second half and 15 overall. She was 2 for 4 from the foul line.
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“I missed like my first two or three shots.” Godfrey said. “Coach Phong (Do) said to me, ‘I know you. You get in your head after you miss. But get to your spot. We need you to score.’ After that, I was like, ‘Yeah. We need those points. If we can get in the lead, we’re good.’ Once we got to something that worked, I just wanted to keep doing it.”
Both teams will now move on to NorCals. The brackets will be announced Sunday.
For Evergreen Valley, the loss will serve as motivation moving forward, Fenstermaker said after meeting with his team in the locker room.
“I told them let’s use that pain to fuel us to a state championship,” the coach added. “Let’s win a state title this year and do the unthinkable.”
Evergreen Valley coach Drew Fenstermaker talks to his team after the Cougars lost to Branham 54-51 in the Central Coast Section Division I championship girls basketball game on Saturday, Feb, 24, 2024 at Mission College in Santa Clara. (Darren Sabedra/Bay Area News Group)
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