ORINDA – There were quite a few blowouts at the Elite Is Earned New Year’s Showcase at Miramonte on Saturday. Lincoln-Stockton got things rolling with a resounding victory over Las Lomas, and St. Mary’s did the same to Nevada Bishop Manogue-Reno. Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 8 Bishop O’Dowd and P2P CCS No. 3 Sacred Heart Cathedral, had a little closer affair but it was still decidedly in O'Dowds favor.
Bishop O’Dowd 63, Sacred Heart Cathedral 50
Bishop O’Dowd never trailed in an impressive win over Sacred Heart Cathedral. Despite missing two key players due to injury, the Dragons (7-7) jumped out to a 21-7 advantage at the end of the first – which included a 12-0 run – and maintained the margin through the second. With 7:09 remaining in the game, the Fightin’ Irish (7-7) brought the deficit down to a single digit for the first time in about a 20-minute span.
“It always starts with our defense,” Bishop O’Dowd coach Malik McCord stated. “We just fouled a little too much. We’ve done well all week into this game.”
Every time Sacred Heart Cathedral seemed on the verge of making it more of a contest, the Dragons had a response. When the lead was shaved to seven, Lexi Love – the only senior playing in the game and one of two on the roster for O’Dowd – threaded a beautiful pass to Skylar McGlockton for a layup, and when it was 53-45 a few minutes later, Kyla Hankins started another mini-spurt to create a double-digit cushion.
“We just couldn’t put it together,” Sacred Heart Cathedral coach LyRyan Russell said. “We missed ten free throws…a bunch of lay-ups, (and) a bunch of assignments on defense. This was a winnable game, but we have to do a lot of teaching.”
Hankins had 12 points and six rebounds, freshman Amaya Bonner scored 11, and Jenna Kilty tacked on 10 for a Dragons squad that was without starters Jada Holland and Kennedy Johnson. Holland, the senior point guard who has been instrumental in the team’s success in recent years, has missed the last nine games but is expected back possibly as early as the coming weekend’s MLK event at the school, while Johnson, who was injured at the Nike Tournament of Champions, is likely to miss another three weeks.
Da’Myiah Lewis led Sacred Heart Cathedral with 15 points, and Talo Li-Uperesa added 12 points and six rebounds. The Fightin’ Irish also have just two seniors on the roster.
“It’s all across the board in the Bay Area, so you see a lot of up and down games,” Russell added about the change to a more youthful team. “It’s a little more level parity right now.”
Echoed McCord about his own team: “They’re not used to playing this many minutes. They’re getting better, and that’s the big thing.”
St. Mary’s-Stockton 76, Bishop Manogue 35
Bishop Manogue may have won the long-distance award, as it hails from Reno, but St. Mary’s-Stockton turned away the Miners with a well-balanced performance. Both teams got off to a slow start, as it was only 9-7 after the first quarter. In the second, the Rams (12-5) improved, but still had a number of turnovers—often right after forcing a turnover themselves.
Bishop Manogue (3-11) trailed 26-13 at the half. But even a third quarter which saw them score more than they had in the entire first half did little to help, as St. Mary’s-Stockton started hitting three-pointers with regularity (they had missed their first 10 attempts of the game) and had better ball control. The result was a 27-point quarter, paving the way to the easy victory.
Amaya Oliver, a junior standout who missed her entire sophomore season due to injury and was playing in only her second game back this campaign, had eight points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks. Freshman point guard Tai Sherman scored a game-high 21, including 17 in the second half, Jada Moss tallied 10 points, and Anissia Cayton struck from downtown three times to account for her nine points.
“We stayed in full-court press and man-to-man,” Oliver said. “We tried to apply the pressure because we could see in the first half they were uncomfortable with that.”
Bishop Manogue leading scorer Kenna Holt had a team-high 12 points.
Lincoln 69, Las Lomas 22
Lauren Garces scored 21 points, and Taylor Low and Faith Shelton added 12 and 11 respectively as Lincoln (12-5) rolled to a huge win over Las Lomas (4-13). Garces, a 5’4” sophomore, entered the game with just a 5.1 points-per-game scoring average. It was the Trojans’ sixth straight win.
