GIRLS: Vaqueros, Patriots, Knights win
- Updated: February 2, 2019
2019 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
EastCountySports.com staff report
SANTEE – The El Capitan Lady Vaqueros felt the need to work on some things Friday night with the playoffs fast approaching.
The Vaqueros looked great during a 20-1 run in the first half and MACKENZIE CURTIS scored 19 points in the contest during a 45-30 win over host West Hills.
The improving Wolf Pack led 7-5 after the first quarter, but El Cap did in the hosts with a 22-5 edge in the second quarter.
Curtis, a sophomore, had a private block party, rejecting four West Hills shots.
Junior guard JORDAN GRANDY made a trio of three-pointers in the first half for El Capitan.
“There was a lot of inconsistencies but now we know what to work on,” Grandy said of the team’s performance.
Curtis made a three-pointer that gave El Capitan a 13-9 lead.
“I think we played extremely well in the second and fourth quarter,” Curtis said. “I think the ball was spread a lot tonight and it was the most fun we have had in a while.
“Everyone was on the same page. Jordan Grandy, SHIANA PERES, TIFFANY BICKFORD all came out hot and were ready to hit whatever shot came to them.”
West Hills had another positive performance in the third quarter, outscoring El Capitan, 13-8.
“We played well as a team and our trust definitely improved tonight,” Bickford said. “We trusted each other to finish, we trusted each other to take the right shots, we trusted each other to be in the right spot where they were needed.
“I was looking to score in more ways than shooting threes. I was looking to drive and trying to become a threat to score. We’re a team not to
Bickford added eight points and Peres contributed seven.
“We were focusing on looking for each other’s shot,” Bickford said. “We weren’t focusing on running the score up, we wanted to work on our plays and how to fix the flaws in them.”
West Hills was led by senior SAVANNAH RINDER, who scored eight points.
PAIGE EVANS, NOLIE WILEY,
El Capitan improved to 4-3 in league play.
CHRISTIAN 67, SCRIPPS RANCH 51 – Christian High junior SIMONE JAMES scored 20 points as Christian won an important Western League contest on the road.
ALLIE CARREON added 15 points for the Patriots, while KRISTIN WILLIAMS came home with 13 points.
The win kept Christian High (7-1 Western, 18-8) within a half-game of first-place Cathedral Catholic in the Western League standings.
The Patriots, who meet Mater Dei Catholic on Saturday, finish the Western League regular season with road games at Mira Mesa (Tue.) and Serra (Fri.). The Dons remaining game is at Lincoln on Friday.
FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 72, GUAJOME PARK ACADEMY 19 – Freshman NATALIE BRAVO had 28 points and junior ELLIE TURK added 24 points as the Knights routed the Frogs to secure the Ocean League championship.
Turk finished with the rare triple-double that included steals. She had 12 thefts, while also dishing out 10 dimes.
The Knights are likely going to finish as one of the top two seeds in the upcoming San Diego CIF Division IV playoffs.
MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 60, BORREGO SPRINGS 20 – The Red Hawks will head into the last three games of the season tied atop the Manzanita League standings.
Mountain Empire (8-5, 5-1 Manzanita) will face league co-leader Warner on Monday at 4.
