Matadors had to wait, but still get championship
- Updated: December 20, 2015
2015-16 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
TIERRASANTA (12-20-15) — After skipping past Serra 60-50 in Saturday’s (Dec. 19) semifinals of the Winter Prep Classic at Serra, the Mount Miguel Matadors had to wait more than six hours to take on Torrey Pines for the tournament championship.
“We played in the semifinals at 2 p.m. We were supposed to play in the finals at 8 p.m. but there was a delay in the scheduling, so we went home and then had to come back,” said Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL.
The title tipoff came at 9:15 p.m. and Mount Miguel seemed to thrive in the evening showcase as they edged Torrey Pines 63-61 to claim the tournament championship.
AMBER HARD hammered down 41 points in the Mount Miguel doubleheader conquest. She also gobbled up 18 rebounds.
“We have no set plays for Amber but she moves without the ball extremely well,” said Sandoval.
SATERA BATES pumped in 35 points, the majority coming on five 3-pointers.
LAILA SMITH had 20 assists in the two games, while DESTINI ANDERSON poured in 29 points.
“The thing about Laila is all she wants to do is pass, and she’s good at it,” Sandoval said. “But we need her to take a shot now and then too.”
“I’ve got to credit Destini Anderson and CAMARA DOUGLAS for shutting down Oregon State bound, 6-foot-3 senior Sierra Campisano.” The Falcons’ powerful pivot scored 19 points in the first half as Torrey Pines led 35-34.
In the second half however, she scored only 4 points.
“I think we wore them out,” Sandoval said. “We’re an uptempo team and we took them out of what they wanted to do.”
“For what it is, it feels good to know that we’re the Winter Prep Classic champions,” said Sandoval.
“We were up by 20 points (against Serra) with 4 minutes to go, then we got lackadaisical,” said Sandoval. “We were careless with the ball.”
Nonetheless the Matadors played well enough to reach the tournament’s gold round against perennial power Torrey Pines.
Mount Miguel vs. Serra: Amber Hard 21 (8 reb, 1 stl, 3 blk), Satera Bates 19 (1 reb, 3 ast), Destini Anderson 11 (7 reb), Camara Douglas 5 (2 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk), Laila Smith 4 (4 reb, 10 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Michelle Corley 1 (3 reb, 3 stl).
Mount Miguel vs. Torrey Pines: Amber Hard 20 (10 reb, 1 ast), Destini Anderson 18 (6 reb, 1 stl), Satera Bates 16 (3 reb, 2 stl), Camara Douglas 5 (2 reb, 1 stl), Laila Smith 4 (2 reb, 10 ast).
VALLEY CENTER 47, GROSSMONT 42 – After winning six straight games coach GRACE CAMPBELL of the Grossmont Foothillers got caught in the crossroads of a schedule change in the championship game of the Mustang Tournament.
“We were scheduled to play against Morse in the Mustang Tournament championship game tonight,” said Campbell. “However they played in another tournament game Saturdaymorning (Dec. 19) and I guess the tournament director of the Mustang Tournament disqualified them for playing in a tournament game that same day. I’m not sure how that works.
“We ended up playing Valley Center again in place of Morse and lost by 5.”
Grossmont played Valley Center earlier in the season and beat them 40-15. No explanation was given for the turnabout in lopsided play.
“We started off slow. We were down 15 points at the third quarter and came back within 2 points in fourth quarter,” said Campbell. “Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to pull ahead, especially with them making their free throws.
“Valley Center made 20 of 27 free throws and it killed us.
“For us to come back within 2 points with being 15 points down is amazing,” she added. “My girls fought hard and didn’t give up. I’m very proud of them.”
Grossmont: Taisha Silas 22, Athena Sotelo 6. (Stat book got wet in the rain – rest of scoring was illegible.)
HELIX 61, KEARNY 20 – No further information reported for this Winter Prep Classic – West Division contest on Saturday (Dec. 19).
TORREY PINES 56, WEST HILLS 42 – No further information provided for this Winter Prep Classic – East Division contest on Saturday (Dec. 19).
SANTANA at POINT LOMA – No report for this non-league game.
