Bishop Diego Outlasts Cate to Claim 29-24 Tri-Valley League Victory

Jaymi Coronado poured in 22 points and the Bishop Diego girls’ basketball team captured a 29-24 Tri-Valley League victory over Cate on Tuesday night at the Brick House.

The Cardinals overcame a 14-9 halftime deficit and held the visiting Rams to 10 second-half points to emerge victorious.

“I told them we have to keep getting stops on defense, and eventually shots will fall,” said Bishop Diego coach Jeff Burich. “It’s just a matter of keeping the confidence up.”

Bishop Diego has six freshmen on the roster, many of whom have key roles, which puts a big burden on Jaymi Coronado to produce offensively, and she delivered with flying colors.

Jaymi Coronado scored eight of Bishop Diego’s first-half points, with the other point coming on a free throw by her sister Jeisa Coronado. 

Cate was in control for much of the first half as freshman Josie Song drove the full length of the court for a layup that put the Rams ahead 7-5 with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

An offensive rebound and put-back by Maia Holmes increased the Cate lead to 13-9 with just under two minutes remaining in the first half.

However, a fastbreak layup by Kasey Seashore capped off a 7-2 run by Bishop Diego at the 4:20 mark of the third quarter and tied the game at 16-16. Jaymi Coronado followed with Bishop Diego’s lone three-pointer of the game on a high arcing shot from the wing that swished through the net, putting the Cardinals ahead 19-16 with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

“In the second half, we tried to set screens for Jaymi and Jeisa when they didn’t have the ball, ” Burich said. “We tried to get some flare screens, and I just told Jaymi she is going to have to drive. I’d rather her take 20-something shots in that second half.”

Back-to-back full-court drives for layups by Jaymi Coronado increased the Bishop Diego lead to 25-19 with 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter and forced a Cate timeout.

The Rams responded with five consecutive points on a deep two-pointer by Song and three free throws by Emerson Evans with 3:57 remaining cutting their deficit to 25-24. However, Cate would not score again for the remainder of the contest. 

Freshman Luz Castro came up with the big shot to put the Cardinals ahead 28-24 with 1:10 remaining. Falling behind by two possessions was too much for Cate to overcome.

With the victory, Bishop Diego improved to 6-14 overall and 2-4 in Tri-Valley League play. Cate dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the Tri-Valley League.