With 15 seconds left on the clock and the Hawks, down 74-71, needed a three to force overtime. It was Amaya Jiao time.
The ball was inbounded and found its way into her hands at the top of the key. Savannah Montini, a sophomore forward for Las Positas, came to give her a screen. Jiao jabbed right before dribbling left around the screen. She then stepped back behind the three point line. And passed.
The pick-and-pop worked to perfection. The defenders went toward Jiao, which left Montini open. She caught the ball and let it fly. The ball soared the basket, as if in slow motion, before bouncing off the backboard. And in.
The Nest exploded with cheers. The defense forced a turnover and Las Positas made it to overtime.
For a moment, it felt as if this night would end special. The Las Positas women’s basketball team had momentum on their side, home court and the motivation to get their first win of the season. But that would be the peak of the night.
Sacramento City College stepped on the gas after regulation, outsourcing the Hawks 19-2 in overtime. Making it worse was having former Hawks on the other side, including former women’s basketball coach Caleb Theodore. What looked to be a nail-biter into a blowout, 93-76. It was Las Positas’ third-straight loss to start the season.
“I think it gave us a chip on our shoulder,” Mi’ari Garnett, a returning sophomore guard for the Hawks, said. “I mean, you have your old coach coming back, he has a chip on his shoulder. Our last game didn’t look too good, so I’m sure a lot of people had some doubt in us. But we have some dogs on our team. We can bring that intensity out on the court.”
Theodore coached the Hawks from 2020-24. He revived the program after two dormant years following the pandemic. His team went 3-24 in his first season and 6-19 in his second. The progress was aided by a couple of freshman recruits who were sure to take the Hawks to another level in guard Kyshanti King and forward Joyce Mulumba.
But Theodore left to take the job at Sacramento City. And King and Mulumba went with him.
King had 30 points and six steals against the team she made second-team All-Coast Conference with as a freshman. Mulumba had 22 points and 19 rebounds.
So losing hurt on multiple levels. Not only was it a great chance to get their first win, it was also an opportunity to get bragging rights over their former cohorts.
“He taught me a lot,” said Hawks head coach Tracy Walker, who was Theadore’s assistant the last season. “Just watching him last season and learning from him. So I think that carried on to this season. Just being vocal and helping the girls and preparing scouting reports and stuff. Being under his tutelage helped a lot.”
The Hawks’ three losses to start the season have come by an average of 25.7 points.
The departure of the coach and their two best players have been a regression as the Hawks now have to rebuild.
That’s why this defeat would have been big. The Hawks found themselves down by as much as 12 in the second half. They clawed back to force overtime. It was the best they’ve played all season.
“They had some get back that they wanted to give to this team,” Walker said, “so they came in with a different mindset. I think that was really the catalyst that changed the energy, that changed the whole game. They really wanted this win, and I wanted that for them.”
Despite Walker’s time learning under Theodore, some things are learned through mistakes. Late in the fourth quarter, with the Hawks needing a foul to stop the clock, Walker yelled for Garnett to be the one to bear the cross. The issue — Garnett didn’t have any fouls to give.
So she fouled out when listening to the instructions.
“I missed that one,” Walker said. “I didn’t get a reminder from the scoreboard. No excuses, but she had four (and) I wish I would have just had somebody else foul so I could keep her in there.”
Without Garnett, one of their defensive stoppers and team captain, the Hawks ran out of gas in overtime.
But it was much better than their opener. The Hawks were embarrassed by a 45-point loss to San Jose. They answered with a 15-point loss to Yuba. Then they pushed Sacramento to the brink.
“We see the energy and culture that we want to create,” Jiao said. “It’s becoming more and more evident every game.”
The game proved the Hawks can find success under their new regime. Walker has officially gone toe to toe with Theodore, and almost came out victorious.
The next step — get over the hump and get that first win of the year.
“I think this was the missing piece,” Walker said. “I think this is going to really motivate them to continue this trajectory and I think we’re gonna start winning some games now.”
Top photo: Hawks center Sophie Fletcher (23) vies for a rebound against Sacramento City center Joyce Mulumba, who played for Las Positas last season. (Photo by Jakob Arnarsson/ The Express)
Jakob Arnarsson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @JakobA2004
