Matadors struggle?; Van Kirk scores 30

By Ramon Scott
Updated: May 12, 2021

Grossmont senior Shyann Van Kirk scored a career-high 30 points on Tuesday. / P.J. Panebianco

2021 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

SPRING VALLEY – It doesn’t take a 63-point win for Mount Miguel girls varsity head coach Robbie Sandoval to know when he doesn’t like what he sees.

On the scoreboard, the fourth-ranked Lady Matadors appeared to romp to a 78-15 win against overmatched El Cajon Valley on Tuesday evening.

But there wasn’t much to like according to the trained eye of the perennial champion coach.

“It was one of the worst games effort-wise that we have played all season,” Sandoval said. “No energy whatsoever.”

Sandoval’s team can still be classified as a young group, especially his budding stars, so he knows educating his players on consistent effort is the key to winning big games at the end of the season.

Knowing a team can beat an opponent doesn’t call for a lackluster performance.

Mount Miguel has put up big points against several opponents this season but sometimes the situation calls for a controlled game, placing emphasis on execution over impression.

Still, Sandoval had to be okay with the scoring balance, considering the team’s top producer missed another contest.

Junior Danay Williams-Pope led the way with 18 points for Mount Miguel

Sophomore Ixchel Rojo finished with 15 points, eight steals, and eight assists for the Lady Matadors.

Senior Arantxa Fonseca and junior Nataly Bravo both ended with 12 points.

Bravo had two three-pointers and also had five steals.

Veteran senior Jacquee Brown contributed 11 points, while sophomore Zanna Hurst had six points.

Matador freshman Jubilee Quesada, up from the junior varsity, made a good appearance in the scorebook with four points. She also had a pair of thefts.

One area where the Braves seemed to match the Matadors was on the defensive boards.

El Cajon Valley appeared to rebound a decent percentage of its misses despite having fewer shot attempts.

Mount Miguel improved to 13-4 overall and 3-0 in Grossmont Hills League play.

GROSSMONT 73, STEELE CANYON 33 – The Foothillers won behind a career-high 30 points from Shyann Van Kirk.

Van Kirk also had 13 rebounds and two blocked shots in our win against Steele Canyon.

Grossmont improved to 5-0 in the Grossmont Valley League and 10-3 overall.

The Lady Foothillers are currently the top-rated team in the section’s Division 2.

EL CAPITAN 51, SANTANA 8 – Senior Mackenzie Curtis led the 11th-ranked Vaqueros with 26 points, including a 9-for-9 effort from the foul line, to go along with 12 rebounds, nine steals,

Sophomore Kaylee Cole added nine points, seven rebounds, five steals, and seven assists for El Capitan (12-6, 3-0 Grossmont Hills League).

Senior Emma Driskill contributed eight points.

Freshman Amaya Tone made an impact with four points and an assist to Cole that put the young El Cap talent on display in the fourth quarter.