The varsity girls’ basketball squad, in spite of a roster brimming with underclassmen, has earned a berth in the Northern California Tournament, just a few steps away from the State Championships.

After an impressive run in the North Coast Section playoffs that ended with a hard fought battle against perennial powerhouse Bishop O’Dowd in the semi-final game, the Cougars were awarded a #3 seed in the NorCal tournament.  As a result, the squad has a week to rest before playing the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between #11 South San Francisco and #6 Tamalpais on Friday.

The girls’ record of 24 and 5, which included wins over some powerful areas foes, earned the high seed.  Only #1 Sacred Heart Cathedral and #2 Valley Christian were deemed to have been more impressive in the regular season among NorCal Division 3 teams.  DFAL rival and NCS champion Miramonte, one of the few teams to have beaten the Cougars during the regular season, was moved into the “Open” Division for the NorCal Tournament.

While the young team has already exceeded expectations, veterans like senior captain Emily Lyall are eager to take advantage of the opportunity to extend their season. “Getting to state has been our goal since the beginning of the season so to accomplish that would be really cool,” she explained.

The last time Campolindo landed a spot in the NorCal Tournament was in 2014, where they lost in the 1st round.

Athletic Director Tom Renno attributed much of this year’s success to the team’s leadership and chemistry. “They’ve really excelled under the team’s new leadership, Emily Lyall, who has been a tremendous presence on the court and off the court. She has been a great leader for them all year long. So I think that growth as basketball players but also the growth of coming together as a team have really propelled into success this year,” he explained.

Though some of the key players are not seniors, they have had experience playing in youth leagues prior to high school. “I think they have more experience this year then they have had in the past, so that experience has played a role in their success, but it has also been their cohesiveness as a team,” said Renno.

In her last high school season, Lyall is motivated to make the most of this post season. “I think this team is different and that we have a really good chance especially with our team chemistry and our work ethic. I think we have as good of a chance as anyone else in our bracket of getting to state.”