MORAGA, CA – Pinewood laid it on early and often to an undermanned St. Joseph Notre Dame squad at Campolindo High School in the afternoon’s featured game at the Lamorinda Classic, walking away with a 64-36 blowout win.
Hannah Jump scored 22 points and pulled seven rebounds, and Klara Astrom came up big with eight points, 14 rebounds, and four assists for the Panthers (16-1), who led 23-10 after one and 38-17 at the half. An injury to UC San Diego-bound point guard Brianna Claros put a damper on an otherwise sparkling effort. Claros had a team-high 15 points in the first half but wouldn’t be able to add on to that total as she sprained her ankle less than two minutes into the third quarter.
“When (Claros) went down, we were worried for her,” Jump commented. “We play our game every night no matter who we’re playing. We have so many options out of our sets that if they guarded one thing we were able to resort to another option.”
“It was pristine execution,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “Our defense was really good as well. When you’re in a game like that you have to pick how you’re gonna play us.”
St. Joseph Notre Dame (14-3) was led by Maila Mastora’s 11 points. The Pilots were without two starters – Kayla Nunn (migraines) and Zhane Duckett (concussion) – and tried but failed to match Pinewood’s efficiency from three-point territory. They were just 4-of-24, while Pinewood shot 11-of-36 from beyond the arc.
“We’ve been fortunate the whole year then it hits us right before Pinewood,” St. Joseph Notre Dame coach Shawn Hipol stated. “I think their pressure defense in the half court gets us out of our normal spots. (Duckett) is one of our kids that will pound the ball and get to the basket.”
Pinewood’s only loss this season was a two-point falling to Salesian. Despite being in the very respectable WBAL-Foothill, the Panthers have been ripping through league opponents and only Mitty stands in the way of a #1 CCS girls basketball ranking.
The game was one of six on the afternoon; here is how three others panned out, with P2P Senior Writer Harold Abend reports on the last two of the evening (Carondelet vs. McClatchy & Miramonte vs. Heritage).
Bear Creek triumphs over Campolindo
Bear Creek led wire to wire against the host Campolindo Cougars and came away with an 80-49 victory. The Bruins guard combo of Cassidy Byrne and Mya Blake proved too much to handle. Byrne struck from downtown seven times as part of a 26-point effort, and freshman Mya Blake scored 15 points before leaving late in the third with an injury. Despite a 5’4” frame, Blake pulled down five rebounds in the first quarter alone, and she also filled the stat sheet with assists and steals.
University of Washington commit Haley Van Dyke scored 18 points for Campolindo, and in 29 minutes of recorded action* had 18 rebounds and three assists. Mariella Crudele scored 14 points on four three-pointers for Campolindo (11-7), which has been without second-leading scorer Ashley Thoms since she sustained a broken wrist in a recent game with Salesian.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge dealing with their press and we did not handle it very well,” Campolindo coach Art Thoms said via email. “We clearly missed Ashley and her ball handling. Without (her) we have players playing new positions and more minutes. I was proud of our effort in general, but we need to get better on our defensive rotations.”
Bear Creek (19-2) came in ranked 28th in the state. Blake, one of three players averaging double digits, leads the team at 16.9 points per game. Her injury did not appear serious. Coach Anthony Matthews calls her skillset “uncanny.” He praised his team’s defensive performance.
“That’s all we ask, to give them everything they had,” Matthews said. “We knew what (Van Dyke) could do, and it was going to take a double team for it to happen. Our goal was to make it tough for her, to earn every bucket she had.”
South San Francisco caps Brookside Christian
Brittney Cedeno tallied 15 points, eight rebounds, and four steals, and Jerlene Miller tacked on 11 points, seven boards, and five steals as South San Francisco defeated Brookside Christian 56-42. The Warriors (12-3) led the entire game except for the opening minutes when the Knights (8-12) scored the first six of the game.
Cedeno, a Cal Baptist commit, sometimes struggled from the field but found other ways to contribute, while Becca Tasi chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
“We were in control of the game, they made a nice little comeback,” South San Francisco coach Paul Carion said, adding that a key steal by Miller changed the momentum back to the Warriors. “Our press made a lot of their players catch the ball where they didn’t want to. The bigs were forced to catch the ball outside (and) never really got on the block.”
Chanel Stuart had 20 points, six rebounds, six steals, and three blocks, and Savannah Henson added 11 points for Brookside Christian (8-12).
Terra Nova holds off Clayton Valley
In a back-and-forth game, Terra Nova outlasted Clayton Valley Charter 66-60. Tigers’ center Kenady Armstrong scored 20 points and swatted away five shots, and Venus Pascua had a balanced game with 18 points (including four three-pointers), four rebounds, and four assists.
Kelly Osterkamp paced the Ugly Eagles with 19 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists, while Ysobelle Eustaquio tallied 11 points and five rebounds.
Clayton Valley (9-9) struggled in the first quarter, falling behind by 10, but made up nearly all the difference in the second. Terra Nova (11-5) had a decisive 13-2 run to end the third and held steady the rest of the way. The Tigers were short-handed, missing three of their starters.
“We brought up some youngsters to try to control the tempo a little bit,” Terra Nova coach Kawann Summerville noted. “When a team makes a run like that you go to your biggest girl to kind of neutralize that and force them to get in there and defend.”
*stats were not recorded for the first 2 ½ minutes of the second quarter
