OAKLAND, CA – Two days after a 20-point win over Prep2Prep NCS No. 4 Salesian-Richmond Cal-Hi Sports No. 2 La Jolla Country Day shook off a Prep2Prep NCS No. 1 and Cal-Hi Sports No. 9 St. Joseph Notre-Alameda in an impressive 71-43 victory on MLK Day in the Oakland Hills at Bishop O’Dowd.
There have been some inside-outside dynamic duos in California girls basketball history, but this is not the forum for that discussion. What’s pertinent here is the show that was put on at the Third Annual MLK Classic by the tandem of La Jolla Country Day Oregon-bound Te-hina Paopao and Breya Cunningham.
Cunningham, a 6-3 freshman post that some consider the best players from the class of 2023 in the state, and 5-10 senior Paopao, who some consider the top player in the state and one of the nation’s best, were simply magnificent. Cunningham was unstoppable in the paint and finished with a huge double-double 30 points and 13 rebounds with seven blocked shots. For Paopao it was just another day at the office as she controlled the perimeter and went inside as well. Her double-double included draining four three-pointers en route to 23 points and 10 rebounds with six assists, five of which were converted by Cunningham into baskets.
“That’s my girl,” said Paopao as she and Cunningham posed for a picture. “Breya has helped me improve because of how she moves and is capable of catching the ball and scoring. She moves really well without the ball so being able to have a post player like that opens the court for more scoring opportunities.”
Most of the college coaches queried agreed with that assessment of the big girl, and many of them were there to see her.
“Breya is the best post player I have ever coached,” said La Jolla Country Day Coach Terri Bamford, and Bamford has had good enough players to win four CIF state championships and Monday’s win was No. 615 in her coaching career at Country Day.
“Her efficiency around the basket and her ability to catch and finish in traffic is great,” Bamford continued. “We have talented players around her but Breya dominated the paint.
The game ended up looking like a blowout, and St. Joseph Notre Dame never led, but after trailing 28-16 early the Pilots clawed their way back to 36-35 in the early third quarter, but after what they’ve been through recently they simply ran out of gas against the physicality of Paopao and Cunningham and they were outscored 35-8 from there and only had 12 points in the second half.
Last week Coach Shawn Hipol resigned and the Pilots were playing their second-straight game against a top-notch opponent after losing 60-48 to Nevada No. 1 Centennial-Las Vegas on Saturday at the MLK Showcase at St. Mary’s-Stockton. Not only was it only the third game for new head coach Brian Sato, but they were without Sophie Nilsson who is nursing a sore knee.
UC Riverside-bound Malia Mastora led St. Joseph Notre Dame with 12 points, but they were all in the first half. Sophomore Talana Lepolo freshman Eva Levingston each added 10 points.
St. Joseph Notre Dame (10-4) will have to re-group and prepare for a Saturday game in Los Angeles against state-ranked Windward.
With Cal-Hi Sports No. 1 Long Beach Poly losing to a Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth team La Jolla County Day (21-1) beat the Nike TOC, it was confirmed by Cal-Hi Sports and texted to Bamford on her drive home that her Torreys would be the No. 1 team in this week’s state rankings.
“The team is playing great right now,” Bamford remarked. “Everyone knows their role and they are embracing it and giving the tem what they are best at. I love this team.”
Host O’Dowd escapes upset bid by Heritage
The upset that was brewing in the first two quarters and the first score basket never materialized after host and Prep2Prep No. 2 Bishop O’Dowd erased a 30-16 halftime and 33-16 early third quarter deficit to post a 54-48 victory over P2P NCS No. 6 Heritage-Brentwood.
O’Dowd (11-4) used a 17-2 run from the biggest deficit to pull to 35-33 late in the third quarter, but it wasn’t until sophomore Amaya Bonner drained a three-pointer with less than two minutes left that the Dragons took their first lead at 48-46 since leading 7-4 early on.
Senior Kennedy Johnson gave the Dragons a 52- 48 lead, but Heritage senior Abby Muse, who had a spectacular game, missed the front end of a one-on-one with 36.2 seconds left, and after an O’Dowd miss Dragons senior Skylar McGlockton got a steal and Johnson made two free-throws to close things out.
In the win O’Dowd overcame a horrid 5-for-30 first half shooting performance but the shots began to fall during the big run and the defense stiffened and only allowed 18 second half points.
“At halftime I told the girls the shots would start falling and just continue to play good defense. We had good looks but the shots were just not falling and in the beginning of the game we missed six to eight layups,” said O’Dowd Coach Malik McCord. “I said let’s get it to single digits by the end of the third and in the fourth quarter lets win the game.”
The key was continuing to play good defense and seeing the ball go in,” continued McCord. “Once it started going in I was thinking here we go.”
Bonner led O’Dowd with 17 points (two three-pointers), seven rebounds, five steals and three assists. Johnson added eight points, eight rebounds, six steals, three blocks and two assists. Senior Kaysie Watanabe (nine points on three three-pointers) was a factor. He final three-pointer got the Dragons to 43-41, and she had an assist on the three-pointer to Bonner that gave O’Dowd the lead for good.
Heritage (11-4) was coming off a 55-48 win over state-ranked Lynwood on Saturday in Stockton at the St. Mary’s MLK Showcase, and although they didn’t pull off the upset the Muse sisters, Abby and Amanda, turned some heads as did they tenacious play of Julie Ramirez.
Amanda, a 6-5 freshman, had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while big sister Abby, a 6-3 Boise State-bound senior, only had six points but she hauled in 15 rebounds and had five blocks. Junior point guard Ramirez attacked right up until the end and finished with seven points but got Johnson in foul trouble with her driving and slashing.
Mark Keppel-Alhambra 56 Berkeley 54
Mark Keppel, from just east of downtown Los Angeles, overcame an early 23-12 deficit to take down a young team of Yellowjackets in the early morning game that kicked off the action.
Keppel (15-6) got a huge game from Patricia Chung. The Long Beach State-bound senior point guard had a colossal double-double 30 points and 14 rebounds with five steals and four assists. Freshman Jayda De Leon and sophomore Jennifer Nitta added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Berkeley (6-12) was led by senior Dionie Hall and junior Jada McDonald with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
“It’s a real fun experience,” said Chung, whose team lost 44-42 in overtime to Carondelet-Concord on Saturday at O’Dowd. “You don’t know what to expect but you know you have to bring your “A” game and that’s what we did today.”
