STOCKTON, CA – The Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth team McClatchy faced on Monday at the St. Mary’s MLK showcase was fresh off an upset of sorts when the Cal-Hi
Sports No. 11 ranked Trailblazers knocked off Cal-Hi Sports No. 4 Folsom in a nail-biter in Saturday’s action, and although the Lions matchup with the girls from the San Fernando Valley surprised everyone by starting out looking like it might be a McClatchy rout, it ended up a nail-biter itself in a 62-59 victory for the girls from Sacramento.
“Yes, yes, yes, a huge win for us,” said a smiling McClatchy Coach Jeff Ota. Team wise this was the best game we’ve played. We’ve been playing poorly but we haven’t had Kamryn Hall.”
Hall, a solidly built 6-0 wing that’s has been out with a bad ankle sprain since getting injured in a loss to national No. 1 and Prep2Prep Central Coast Section No. 1 Archbishop Mitty in mid-December, was in her first full game back and was a huge factor in the game after finishing with 10 points (two three-pointers) and eight rebounds.
During her absence McClatchy lost to Folsom but won the Gold Division of the west Coast Jamboree before playing one of those bad games Ota referred to in a loss to Edison-Stockton at the Pittsburg Shootout two weekends ago.
Senior wing Richelle Turney led the way for McClatchy (12-4) with 15 points but most of the came in a bunch. The Lions only trailed twice, the last time at 15-14 to end the first quarter, but at that point was when Turney took over keying a 15-3 run with 13 of her points and all three three-pointers coming in the second quarter. Sophomore forward Samaya Beatty had a solid outing after finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Sierra Canyon (14-4) never really was able to recover from the big run but down the stretch they closed from 59-50 to 61-59 with 38.5 seconds left, but even though McClatchy missed a couple of free-throws the Trailblazers never got a really good shot after that and lost possession on a held ball with 3.1 seconds remaining.
Amanda Olinger led Sierra Canyon with 16 points and junior Angela Bacoulis added 15 points including two three pointers including the team’s final tally.
Two key players for Sierra Canyon did not have complete outings and their top scorer, Ashley Chevalier, did not make the trip north due to a virus. Ryann Payne, a TCU-bound guard, had nine points (four assists) but did not score in the second half. Sophomore point guard and transfer Vanessa De Jesus, who delighted the crowd, college coaches and analysts with her performance against Folsom, did have 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists, but she had trouble finishing and only scored seven points, all in the third quarter.
Fairmont Prep-Anaheim 51, Sacred Heart Cathedral 46
The Central Coast Section could not make it 2-0 against the Orange County girls at the MLK Showcase after Prep2Prep CCS No. 9 Sacred Heart Cathedral fell 51-46 to Fairmont Prep after P2P CCS No. 11 Woodside Priory was a last second 49-48 winner over the Huskies on Saturday.
The Fighting Irish (5-10) went back and forth in the fourth quarter with the Huskies in the second half and led 45-44 with 2:15 left but were outscored 7-1 down the stretch after going ice cold at the worst time.
Fairmont Prep (11-6) got a second straight solid performance from Izzy Om. The junior guard finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Sacred Heart Cathedral (5-10) got 12 points on four three-pointers by Gianna Silvestri.
Short-handed Presentation gets solid win
Presentation (13-2) rebounded from a WCAL loss to Valley Christian with a 50-37 victory over Davis even with star and West Coast Jamboree Coral Division MVP Ava Williams missing her fourth game, which also included a loss to Mitty, with an ankle sprain that will have her out a little longer.
The senior backcourt duo of Akemi Namba and Sharon Roldan led the way with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Namba added four steals and three assists, and Roldan added five steals and four assists. Senior power forward Nikki Streete came off the bench to get nine points, all in the second half, with seven rebounds.
Davis (7-9) got 15 points and 13 rebounds from junior Cristina Oliva.
Bishop Alemany-Mission Hills 51, Salesian 38
The offensive woes for Coach Steve Pezzola and his girls continued after the Pride went 0-2 at the MLK Showcase with a decisive loss to an Alemany team that looks like it’s starting to take shape as the season progresses.
Salesian fell behind 7-0 and 10-2 and although they held Alemany to four points in the third quarter and closed to 35-30 late in the third quarter they ran out of gas in the final period.
Alemany (12-4) got 18 points and 11 rebounds from sophomore wing Kimberly Villalobos and 15 points (two three-pointers) with seven rebounds from 6-1 senior wing Jasmine Hardy.
Junior Makayla Edwards led Salesian (11-4) with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, and 6-5 junior post Angel Jackson added 10 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. A big problem was the other five girls that scored only combined for 17 points.
La Jolla Country Day 62, Cardinal Newman 58 OT
Cardinal Newman led 12-4 early and 42-35 early in the fourth quarter but foul trouble began to mount and when senior Tal Webb fouled out at the end of regulation and the two free-throws by Paris Atchley (10 points) sent the game to overtime the young and short-handed Cardinals could not match a Torreys team with senior college-bound leadership.
University of San Diego-bound Kiera Oakry led Country Day (3-6) with 14 points and six rebounds. Washington University-signed Bianca Notarainni, who missed as Saturday 66-47 loss to Miramonte, made a big difference in this game after finishing with a double-double 12 points and 12 rebounds with three assists. Freshman guard Jazzy Anousinh added 12 points and three assists.
Sophomore guard Anya Choice and senior Regis University-bound Ari Searcy led Cardinal Newman (14-4) with points apiece. Searcy added 11 rebounds and three assists, Choice also had five rebounds, and Webb had 12 points (three three-pointers) and five rebounds.
Other scores:
Centennial-Las Vegas (Nevada) 59. Harvard-Westlake-North Hollywood 49
Mark Keppel-Alhambra 63, Lincoln-Stockton 26
Mission Hills-San Marcos 46, Central-Fresno 37
