CONCORD, Calif. – Four teams in the top 10, three more in the top 25, and one team holding down the final No. 35 spot of the most recent Cal-Hi Sports rankings were in action on Saturday at the Sabrina Ionescu SI20 Showcase hosted by Carondelet.
There were 16 varsity games total with eight contested at Carondelet and eight match-ups played across the street at De La Salle. After all was said and done each of the state ranked teams came out victorious highlighted by national and state No. 1 Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and state No. 6 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa.
Archbishop Mitty 82, University-San Francisco 20
There isn’t a lot you can say about the state and nation’s top team pinning another lopsided loss on an opponent other than University scored two more points than state-ranked Bishop O’Dowd did against Mitty on MLK Day, but at the same time the Monarchs scored 16 more points than they did in the O’Dowd victory.
Mitty (17-0) wasted little time after bolting out to a 12-0 lead and despite the starters seeing limited time the Monarchs never took their feet off the gas pedal. They led 24-8 after one quarter, 42-15 at the half and 67-17 after three before the game went to a running clock for the fourth quarter.
Lehigh-bound senior Belle Bramer was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after finishing with a game-high 20 points, including 10 in the first quarter.
Despite her time being limited Connecticut-bound senior Morgan Cheli added 12 points, and another of the Monarchs stars that only saw around 12-13 minutes of action, sophomore McKenna Woliczko, had eight points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Emma Cook and freshman Tee McCarthy each had nine points.
University (14-4) got nine points from senior Isabella Perez.
Cardinal Newman 59, Priory-Portola Valley 31
After making a huge splash in her first game since becoming eligible by leading Cardinal Newman to an upset of Folsom at the MLK Showcase at St. Mary’s two weeks ago that vaulted the Cardinals into the No. 6 spot in the Cal-Hi Sports state rankings, the third game for Brazilian junior phenom Taissa “Tissa” Queiroz started a little slow for the entire Cardinal Newman team.
In fact Cardinal Newman (20-2) trailed 14-12 after Priory scored the first basket of the second quarter, but things changed quick, fast and in a hurry.
When Tissa went up for an offensive rebound with a feet off the floor one-handed put back to make it 18-14 the move not only delighted the crowd but seemed to energize the Cardinals who went on a 15-0 run they stretched to 29-3 before Priory scored the last basket of the half. At that point it was 41-19 and the game had long been decided.
The 6-1 Queiroz was like a woman amongst girls and dominated in the paint and just about every time she touched the ball. She didn’t look to score as much as usual but by halftime she had 10 points, 15 rebounds and two assists. In the end Tissa finished with 12 points, a school record 27 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
According to Cardinal Newman head coach Monica Mertle 16 rebounds was the previous school record.
“She smashed it,” remarked Mertle about the record.
In any other game Cardinals senior Kaida Angelo would have been named Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 15 points (two three-pointers), eight rebounds, six steals and two assists, but 27 rebounds was just too much to overlook and Tissa was the honoree and got to pose with Ionescu.
“I was so nervous standing next to her,” said Tissa with a huge grin. “I’m a big fan of her.”
Senior Leah Mauritson came off the bench to add 15 points, and junior star Kate Schat, who recently picked up an offer from San Francisco, nailed four three-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Priory (8-7) got 10 points from junior Natalie Neumann and nine points and seven rebounds from sophomore Jordan Moss.
St. Mary’s-Stockton 46, Pinewood-Los Altos Hills 45
The closest and most exciting game among the top teams competing at the SI20 Showcase pitted Cal-Hi Sports No. 12 St. Mary’s against No. 18 Pinewood.
Pinewood tied the game at 45-45 on a basket by junior Vallory Kuelker, but after they got ball back on a stop, junior Jolyn Ding missed two free-throws Pinewood got the ball under its own basket with 7.9 seconds left.
In an effort to advance the ball with such little time left and the entire court to cover, Pinewood head coach Doc Scheppler tried to get the ball into the hands of his best ball handler, sophomore Caitlyn Kramer, but she was being guarded on the inbounds by St. Mary’s senior Jordan Lee. The Texas-bound Lee was able to knock the ball loose and corral it before getting fouled. She made the first and missed the second and on the rebound time expired in the few seconds remaining.
Lee was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds , four steals, three assists and two blocks.
Freshman star Kori “Koko” Rogers added 11 points and five steals for St. Mary’s (16-5) before fouling out late, and senior Cassidy Bartlotto chipped in with 10 points including two three-pointers.
Pinewood (10-4) got 15 points (three three-pointers) and seven rebounds from junior Katherine Garr, and 12 points from senior Alex Facelo on four three-pointers.
Pinewood led 17-4 and 17-6 after one quarter but by halftime the Rams had cut it to a 27-22 deficit. St. Mary’s tied it at 27-27 to start the third quarter and it was back and forth with ties at 34-34 and 37-37 before St. Mary’s went on a 6-0 run to take a 43-37 lead.
The Panthers answered with two consecutive three-pointers by Garr to tie it at 43-43 before Lee scored and then Kuelker got her basket for the final tie of the game.
It may or may not have been the difference in the game but Pinewood, a team known for its three-point shooting, one made six of 14 free-throws and all four in the fourth quarter.
Clovis West-Fresno 83, Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa 45
The game didn’t go to a running clock but by the fourth quarter Cal-Hi Sports No. 10 ranked Clovis West (21-2) had emptied the bench in a game where 11 players scored for head coach Craig Campbell.
Boston College-committed senior guard Athena Tomlinson was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 20 points (two three-pointers) all in the first three quarters.
Junior D1 prospect Riley Walls keeps improving her stock and added 14 points with 10 coming in a first quarter that saw the Golden Eagles open up a 29-12 lead.
Maria Carrillo (14-6) was led by senior Jillian Ebner with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Carondelet 74, St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo 49
Host and Cal-Hi Sports No. 17 Carondelet had some trouble with St. Patrick-St. Vincent and only led 31-23 at the half before pulling away midway through the third quarter for a comfortable victory.
Sophia Ross led Carondelet (19-2) with 15 points including four three-pointers. The Cougars sophomore was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.
Sophomore Layla Dixon registered a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds with three assists and three steals. Senior star Keshia Vitalicio added 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, and freshman Celeste Alvarez just missed a double-double after finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds with two blocks.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent fell to 14-6 on the season.
McClatchy-Sacramento 45, Oakland Tech 32
Baskets were at a premium in this match-up between Cal-Hi Sports No. 35 McClatchy and an Oakland Tech team that was previously ranked.
The game was tied 6-6 after one quarter before McClatchy went on a 9-0 run before Oakland Tech got its first basket of the second quarter with on 2:30 remaining.
From there McClatchy (15-5) took control and stretched the lead to 15 on two occasions before Tech scored the final basket of the game.
One of Northern California’s top junior prospects, 6-2 Nina Cain, was selected the Most Outstanding Player after finishing with a double-double 21 points and 12 rebounds with three steals. Fellow junior Norret Lewis added 12 points.
Oakland Tech (10-10) just couldn’t seem to make its shots. The Bulldogs only made 12 of 54 shots from the field overall and one three-pointer in 18 attempts.
Senior Taliyah Logwood, in only her second game back from injury, made six of the shots and finished with a near double-double 15 points and nine rebounds with five steals. Sophomore Terri’A Russell did have a double-double after going for 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Salesian-Richmond 65, Redwood-Larkspur 45
Salesian (11-8) pulled away in the second quarter after the score was tied 9-9 at the end of the first. The lead was 28-17 at the half and the Pride stretched it to 47-28 to enter the final period before coasting home.
Senior Ayla Rege was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after leading Salesian with a career-high 34 points that included five three-pointers, plus six rebounds and two steals.
“She was a beast,” said Salesian head coach Stephen Pezzola.
Senior Madalyn Kanazawa added 10 points, eight steals and five assists, and junior Janiya Sawyer had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Redwood (15-7) got 17 points from sophomore Kitty Wright and 10 points from junior Maya Saibel.
Branson-Ross 44, Campolindo-Moraga 33
Senior post Julia St. John scored 10 of her game high 16 points (five three-pointers) in the second half to lead Branson (8-12) to a hard fought win in a game they only led by three at the half. St. John was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.
