CONCORD, Calif. – As the wins continue to pile up for the Piedmont Highlander girls, the players and coaches know that staying together is the key to meeting their aspirations. This was proven once again on Saturday at the SI20 Showcase at De La Salle in a 66-51 victory over Acalanes.
The win catapulted Piedmont to 18-0 this season, and they pulled it off without one of their best players, Trinity Zamora. While Zamora cheered on from the sidelines in street clothes due to injury, familiar faces led the way. Madison Hill splashed down six three-pointers and scored 23 points while dishing out four assists, Natalia Martinez dropped 17 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, and Eva Levingston compiled 11 points and 12 rebounds.
“It was very intense,” Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said. “We’re playing without Trinity and that’s the first time in four years that she didn’t have the ball in her hands and for us that’s new and that’s different. Everyone kind of stepped up in their own way. Everyone kind of collectively figured it out, and that was nice.”
The top three scorers for Acalanes (13-6) were super sophomore Karyss Lacanlale, who had six threes of her own and finished with 24, Sophie Chinn, with 16 points and 12 boards, and Dulci Vail, who tacked on nine points and eight boards.
In the first quarter both teams had trouble controlling the ball and hitting shots, and Acalanes held an 11-7 lead. In the second, however, Piedmont heated up, and the treys began to fall – the Highlanders had three of them in the quarter versus none in the first. Hill took over the third, sinking four from beyond the arc in that period alone, and though Acalanes rounded out a nice second half with a 17-point fourth, the Highlanders kept the distance.
“At halftime we picked up the energy,” Hill said. “We have a phrase hat means hit them first, don’t let them come to us, we have to take the game for ourselves. I took that to heart and really just took the game personally. Because we were hearing a lot of chatter before the game, like ‘Trinity’s out, so Piedmont’s not as strong.’”
Hill was named MVP. Piedmont now has six league contests remaining on the schedule, the toughest of which is Bishop O’Dowd, whom they beat by seven in the first go-round. Gardere did not give a timeline for Zamora’s return but believes it’s not a season-ending injury. Both Gardere and Hill pointed out the play of Adrienne Blackwell, who assumed Zamora’s spot in the starting lineup.
“We play for us and not for rankings,” Hill added. “We play for each other - our team is very close.”
Miramonte pounds Dublin
Miramonte raced out to a 22-4 first quarter advantage and had no trouble the rest of the way in a 57-29 defeat of Dublin. Courtney Scheingart scored 22 points off the strength of six three-pointers for Miramonte (17-3). Karena Eberts added 14 points and 14 rebounds and Julia Quinn-Ferguson tallied 10 points, seven boards, six steals, and three blocks. Dublin (9-8) did not have any double-digit scorers, though Kenya Craven had solid all-around game which included double-digit rebounds, three blocks, and three steals.
“I think that our pressure defense was great in the first half,” Miramonte coach Vince Wirthman said. “We had a lot of steals, we had some fast breaks. And when (Scheingart) is shooting like that, we’re actually pretty tough to beat.”
After the game, Scheingart received the MVP in person from Sabrina Ionescu, for whom the tournament is named. A thrilled Mats team posed for pictures with the Miramonte legend who, after graduating in 2016, starred at the University of Oregon, and then became the first overall pick of the 2020 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty. She averaged 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists for the Liberty this past season, while becoming the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double.
