Magnolia's 8th grade girls basketball team shows off the winning Nevada County Athletic League perpetual trophy following winning the NCAL tourney on Oct. 17.

Oct. 27, 2008

Magnolia Girls Cap Perfect 21-0 Season

For the Magnolia School  8th grade girls basketball team, 2008 will be a season to remember.

The Lady Rattlers, fresh off of an unbeaten regular season, capped off a big post season last weekend by winning the championship of the South Tahoe Optimist Tournament held in South Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe tourney title comes on the heels of the Lady Rattlers winning the Nevada County Athletic League’s recent post-season tournament. On the season, the Rattlers were a perfect 21-0.

“It was a dream season for the girls,” said Magnolia coach Chuck Nat. “They played hard all season long and were a joy to coach.”

In the Tahoe affair, Magnolia opened with a 28-21 win over Avery of Reno before taming Bristow of Oakley, 35-16 in the second round.

In a key semi-final battle, Magnolia turned back Adams of Brentwood, 37-29, before topping Cunha in the championship game, 38-28.

Magnolia’s leading scorer in the tournament was Sara Schell who tossed in 44 points including 16 points in the title game depite just playing half of the contest.

“The tournament was a real team effort,” said Nat. “Every player played in every game and helped us. It was a real true championship effort.”

In other tournament news, Magnolia’s Cindy Solomon won the tourney’s free throw shooting contest by sinking 15 of 20 free throws including a pressure packed final shot she needed to win the trophy.

Earlier, Magnolia had copped the NCAL tourney title with a 49-33 win over Weimar Hills as Schell tallied 19 points and Solomon sank 14. Other top efforts came from Savannah Welz, Alli Thill, Sarah Hagar and Olivia Konttinen.

In the tourney’s first round, Schell and Hagar scored 12 points each and Solomon added 11 as Magnolia stung Union Hill, 49-27.