SANTA ANA, Calif. – The inaugural Kevin Kiernan Klassic at Mater Dei was not only designed to honor the all-time winningest coach in California girls high school basketball history, but it was also a means for showcasing some of the top girls basketball talent in the Golden State, and by all accounts it was a success in both endeavors.
As for Kiernan, the retired Mater Dei head coach that called it quits at the end of last season after accumulating a California all-time best 900 career coaching wins according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record book, as the Mater Dei athletic director he was sort of overseeing the festivities.
In a bit of a surprising statement, Kiernan, who is closing in on becoming a septuagenarian, left some doubt about his future.
“I’m going to coach again,” said Kiernan, who didn’t give any particulars about any future coaching options other than to point out that the Troy-Fullerton job was open.
It should be noted that of the six CIF girls state championships Kiernan has garnered, three came in Division II at Troy in 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the other three were at Mater Dei in Division I in 2011 and 2012, and in 2010 in Division II.
Is there any chance Kienan could return to Troy and replace his longtime assistant and affable retiring Warriors head coach Roger Anderson?
The honorarium went to Kiernan but the real action was on the court of the Meruelo Center on Saturday in seven girls games and one boys game with the Mater Dei boys and girls featured in the marquee matchups, respectively.
Host Mater Dei girls bolted out to a 5-0 lead that quickly became 23-2 and 28-6 after one quarter and from there the Cal-Hi Sports No. 5 ranked Monarchs overwhelmed Centennial-Corona in an 81-26 victory.
Mater Dei (16-2) was led by Iowa-committed senior wing Addie Deal. The “real deal,” like the Mater Dei fans like to call her, followed up her being named the West Coast Jamboree Platinum Division David “Scoop” Jackson MVP award winner last week by being named the game’s most valuable player in the Centennial win after finishing with a double-double 22 points (one three-pointer) and 10 assists with four rebounds.
Junior Kaeli Wynn, the daughter of the woman who replaced Kiernan, first-year Mater Dei head coach Jody Wynn, added 19 points and five rebounds with two assists. Senior Nohealani Stores had 11 points, and Kiernan’s daughter, senior Devyn Kiernan, played very well in a game honoring her father and finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Centennial (5-7) got a good effort from Cydnee Bryant, but she had little help. The junior post finished with a double-double 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Monache no match for Etiwanda
Monache-Porterville (9-5) is a pretty decent team from the CIF Central Section and like a lot of mid-level teams based on competitive equity they have some solid wins but also some questionable losses.
One thing that was certain in its matchup with Etiwanda, was although they played hard from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer, Monache was no match for the Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 ranked Eagles in a 65-26 Etiwanda victory.
Recent Cal commit Aliyahna “Puff” Morris, the Cal-Hi Sports freshman, sophomore and junior state player of the year award winner, and one of several top candidates for Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year, still has her wrist taped from have tweaked it early on this season. However, against Monache, and in less than three quarters of play, the senior guard had her way after finishing 22 points including going 4-of-6 from three-point range and 9-of-14 overall from the field. Morris was named the game’s most valuable player.
It was like a homecoming for Shaena Brew. Prior to her game the Etiwanda senior was embraced by Kiernan who she played for at Mater Dei her freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to Etiwanda. Brew connected on both of her three-pointers and finished with 12 points.
Monache got eight points apiece from the junior duo of Milly Rojas and London Haynes.
Etiwanda (10-4) was coming off an impressive 69-56 win over national top 10 ranked Sidwell Friends of Washington D.C. in the title game of the SoCal Holiday Classic on December 30, and a 79-56 victory on Friday afternoon against host Carondelet-Concord at the Sabrina Ionescu SI20 Showcase. From Concord they flew back to play at the Kiernan Klassic on Saturday afternoon but were without standout senior Grace Knox who tweaked her ankle in the Carondelet win.
Sierra Canyon overwhelms Mission Hills
Compared to the other Cal-Hi Sports top five ranked teams Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth has had the least difficult schedule so far based on competitive equity. The Trailblazers 81-63 victory over Fairmont Prep was the only win against a state-ranked team before the No. 4 ranked Trailblazers 84-46 victory over No. 23 Mission Hills-San Marcos on Saturday afternoon at the Kiernan Klassic.
It was just another day at the office for junior megastar Jerzy Robinson. One of the leading candidates for not only Cal-Hi Sports State Junior of the Year honors but Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year as well, barely broke a sweat and in around three quarters of work she posted a double-double 22 points (one three-pointer) and 12 rebounds. Robinson was an obvious choice as the game’s most valuable player.
Senior Jalen Samuel came off the bench to contribute 17 points (three three-pointers) and six rebounds, senior Ashley Redd added 12 points (two three-pointers and junior post Emilia Krstevski had 10 points and five rebounds.
Mission Hills (8-5) was led by junior HC Harding with 12 points, all on 4-of-8 on three-pointers. Junior Kendall Nguyen added 11 points.
Fairmont Prep defense shuts door on Sage Hill
The game between Cal-Hi Sports No. 9 Sage Hill-Newport Beach and No. 11 Fairmont Prep-Anaheim looked like it would be the most even matchup of the seven girls games, and for the most part it was just that. However, that all changed in the fourth quarter after Fairmont Prep (11-5) cranked up the defense and pulled away for a 63-46 victory.
Through three quarters there were six lead changes and eight ties, the last being 44-44 with around a minute left in the third quarter. It was at that point Fairmont Prep scored the final four points of the quarter and opened the final period with an additional 10-0 run and at 58-44 the outcome was pretty much determined.
A combination of the Fairmont Prep defense and ice cold shooting for Sage Hill resulted in the Lightning being held to only two points in the fourth quarter.
Junior sharpshooter Adyra Rajan, who led Orange County with 113 three-pointers last season, connected on four outside the arc and finished with a Kiernan Klassic high 28 points plus eight rebounds and two assists. Three other Huskies players were in double-figure scoring. Junior Lesina Afu added 14 points (two three-pointers), junior Sarah Aldeguer finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, and senior Maria Mejia had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Rajan was named the game’s most valuable player.
What makes the win somewhat impressive is Fairmont Prep only had six players suited up, but two of the players only took a combined three shots and didn’t score. Two were injured at the West Coast Jamboree where the shorthanded Huskies were upset by St. Francis-Mountain View in the semifinals of the Diamond Division before taking third place with a win over Chaminade-West Hills. Another player was sick and another still hasn’t been cleared by the CIF Southern Section.
Like just about all the teams after the top five in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings Fairmont Prep and Sage Hill have been inconsistent and prone to an occasional upset together with some solid wins.
A young Sage Hill (8-7) has been even more inconsistent. The Lightning were led by sophomore Kamdyn Klamberg with 16 points. Freshman Addison Uphoff added 12 points and three assists, and freshman Eve Fowler only had five points but snagged 14 rebounds.
Cardinal Newman represents NorCal at Kiernan Klassic
Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa was the lone Northern California participant of the 14 girls teams in Kevin Kiernan Klassic field and the top team from the Redwood Empire portion of the CIF North Coast Section came away with a solid 55-38 victory against Rolling Hills Prep-San Pedro.
Cardinal Newman (11-3) bolted out to a 12-4 lead after one quarter, 22-12 at the half and extended it to 34-21 after three quarters before leading by as many as 19 before settling for a 17-point victory.
The Cal-Hi Sports No. 21 ranked Cardinals got some hot three point shooting from senior Kate Schat and sophomore Macie Flores.
The Santa Clara-committed Scat earned MVP honors for the game by hitting on 6-of-12 from outside the arc and finishing with 24 points. Flores made 3-of-7 three pointers and finished with 14 points plus five assists and four rebounds. Freshman power forward Saundra Jordan continued to impress after finishing with a double-double 10 points and 18 rebounds.
Rolling Hills Prep (5-7) got 14 points and eight rebounds from sophomore Regan Enright and 10 points and eight rebounds from junior Mia Fernandez.
Esperanza-Anaheim 47, Sonora-La Habra 41
In an all Orange County affair that kicked off the inaugural Kiernan Klassic it was Esperanza (13-6) opening up a 38-22 lead after three quarters that got to 19 points with 5:29 left to play.
Freshman Avery Kame was named the game’s MVP after finishing with 13 points. Fellow freshman Jaydyn Tovar added six points and 13 rebounds.
Sonora (10-7) made a valiant comeback but they ran out of time. The Raiders were led by freshman Kailani Kuwae and junior Liana Hwang with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Harvard-Westlake-North Hollywood 55, Mira Costa-Mahattan Beach 53 OT
Harvard-Westlake (13-3) gave up three free-throws to sophomore Kylee Yeh at the end of regulation to force overtime, but the Wolverines scored the first seven points of the extra period for a 53-46 lead, their biggest of the game, before holding on for the win.
Senior Bella Spencer was named the game’s MVP after finishing with 23 points and nine rebounds. Senior Deanna Thompson added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Mira Costa (12-6) got a game high 27 points (three three-pointers, 10-for-10 on free-throws) from Yeh.
