SAN PASQUAL 59, CHRISTAN 30 — No report from the Patriots on this 5th Place game from the 4th annual Lady Monarchs Classic at Monte Vista.

Christian: Chayan Lowery 11, Mia Johnson 3, Monique Elliott 2, Annie Atterbury 3, Alesia Lowery 5, Jillian Sexton 4.

Valhalla's Karissa Ferrell (left) tips the ball away from behind to prevent a Parkland layin. (Photo by Ruth Mims) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
OTAY MESA (12-31-10) — Following a tour of Phoenix against many of the best teams in the West, Mount Miguel returned home to battle many of the best that San Diego County has to offer.

And the Matadors exploited the difference.

Meeting for the second time this season, Mount Miguel followed an earlier win in the Matador Classic to again down Montgomery, this time taking a 58-45 victory in the title game of the Lady Aztec Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

"We know Montgomery very well since we play them all the time," said DANIELLE MILLER, who finished with 23 points. "We scrimmage them all the time, we play them in spring ball and sometimes in the summer, too."

"So we know what kind of offense they run, what they do on defense -- we're very familiar with them."

Miller, who was tabbed tournament MVP by the media, poured in 10 points in the first period to grab the lead. When Montgomery started to give her more notice, other members of the Matadors stepped forward.

In the second quarter, it was MYISHIA WATKINS who took a turn going to the hole, scoring either on layins or foul shots to produce half of her 16 points to push the halftime advantage to 35-20.

Watkins, who often is over-shadowed by the UNLV bound Miller, also has college plans in the offing.

"I'm going to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix," noted Watkins of the NCAA Division II program. "I liked the small class sizes which will help with my classroom work. Plus, I got along real well with the players and all three members of the coaching staff – I’m pretty used to being coached by male coaches."

Watkins recently made a verbal commitment; she will officially sign early next year.

Montgomery, which owns four of its five setbacks to teams ranked among the county's Top 5 in both major media polls, then decided to go macho in the second half by playing straight-up man defense against the Matadors. Poor decision.

"Even though we beat them already, you have to respect everyone you play against," said Miller. "Teams compete when they play a team with ' Mount Miguel ' on its uniform, so we always need to play hard."

Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL broke down the contest into a series of one-on-one battles. The strategy became so extreme, Sandoval once placed four players along the baseline, with Miller alone with the basketball at the top of the lane.

Two ball fakes later, Miller busted past her defender and a pair of late help-side defenders for a layin. Other isolation plays also went for easy baskets, including the first six goals of the fourth period for a 56-36 cushion.

Meanwhile, center Shay Young added 11 points for the Matadors (10-3).

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 23 (7 stl, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Myishia Watkins 16 (4 stl, 4 ast), Shay Young 11 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Dejanay Pope 2, Dejah Blanks 2 (1 ast), Bree Jones 2 (1 reb), Chantel Yell 2 (1 reb, 1 charge).

ESCONDIDO 60, WEST HILLS 57 – This was a tough loss to swallow for West Hills, which shot 45 percent from the field (18-for-40) and 15-for-20 from the free throw line in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) championship game of the TOC Division of the SoCal Holiday Preps Classic.

The Wolf Pack led 29-21 at halftime but could not overcome 35 turnovers.

“You can’t win games when you make that many turnovers,” said West Hills coach RYAN KINSER. “We’re still doing the same things over and over again against pressure, and that’s a little bit disappointing.”

West Hills, playing without injured junior point guard TAYLOR AGUIRRE, took a 16-11 first quarter lead.

A 3-point bucket plus a free throw by Escondido’s Savannah Summers gave the Cougars a 57-54 lead with 1:21 remaining.

Fortunately the Wolf Pack was given a window when an Escondido defender fouled ARIELLE BOWERS with 34 seconds left. That infraction afforded Bowers three free throws, of which she made all three to tie the game.

West Hills could not muster much offensive energy after that and thus was saddled with the 3-point loss.

On the positive side for the Wolf Pack were double-doubles by TAYLOR INGRAHAM, who produced 12 points and 11 rebounds and HALEY FORSBERG, who garnered 10 points and 17 rebounds.

West Hills’ offense is hurting without the leadership of Aguirre. Nonetheless EMILY COLE led the Pack with 16 points – the majority coming on four 3-pointers.

The Pack pushed its advantage to 43-30 with 3:59 left in the third quarter.

After that Escondido’s pressure began to dictate policy.

“We could just never pull away,” said Kinser. “We let them back into the game and once they did that they turned on the pressure and we couldn’t handle it.”

West Hills: Emily Cole 16 (7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Taylor Ingraham 12 (11 reb, 3 stl), Haley Forsberg 10 (17 reb, 1 stl), Arielle Bowers 8 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Kaitlin McLucas 5 (1 stl), Jillian Brown 4 (6 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Kylie Cristini 2 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk).

El Capitan's Amber Rel-Solia drives past Parkland. (Photo by Richard Drennen)

“It sucks to play at 9:30 a.m.,” said El Capitan head coach FRANK QUINONES. “I’m glad we got away with a ‘W.’

“Vanessa Carrillo was the high point of the game,” he said. “It was the most she’s ever scored. She is a field hockey player – her nickname is ‘Bruiser.’ She’s not afraid to be aggressive, and that’s what gets her playing time.”

“It was a bit of a sloppy game,” said Vaqueros assistant coach JEFF BICKFORD. “We struggled from the free throw line but made a fourth quarter push, and it was nice to see Vanessa Carrillo have the best game of her high school career. We’re very proud of her.”

“Vanessa isn’t the most polished basketball player but she has the best attitude and hustles. She came out in the best condition of any of the players on the team.”

Bickford will coach the Vaqueros for the next few weeks while Quinones cares for his little boy AIDAN, scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday. “Aidan will be in a body cast and wheelchair for 6-8 weeks,” Quinones said.

El Capitan: Vanessa Carrillo 14 (2 reb), Robyn Staley-Logel 7 (2 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl), Megan Drennen 6 (5 reb, 1 stl), Amber Rel-Solia 6 (8 reb, 4 blk, 3 stl), Cora Leonard 2 (3 reb, 1 stl), Deanna Reed 1 (1 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl).

STEELE CANYON 81, OTAY RANCH 43; EASTLAKE 63, STEELE CANYON 40 – ALI MERLINO scored a career high 34 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Cougars crushed Otay Ranch in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

Merlino was 15-for-23 from the field and 4 of 6 from the free throw line.

Steele Canyon shot better than 57 percent from the field with MICHELLE BEASLEY scoring 16 points and her sister GABRIELLE BEASLEY collecting 12 SAMANTHA VERNON hauled down a game high 11 rebounds.

Against Eastlake in the WNBA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic, only Merlino reached double figures as she finished with 10 points.

The double-duty Cougars trailed the Titans 36-20 at halftime.

Steele Canyon (vs. Otay Ranch): Ali Merlino 34 (16 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Michelle Beasley 16 (4 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 12 (2 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Samantha Vernon 7 (11 reb, 3 ast, 4 blk, 1 stl), Jenesys Hayes 6 (3 reb, 2 ast), Alyssa Mascari 4 (4 reb, 1 ast), Sierra Florez 2 (4 reb).

Steele Canyon (vs. Eastlake ): Ali Merlino 10 (1 reb, 1 stl), Jenesys Hayes 6 (3 reb, 2 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 6 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Samantha Vernon 6 (2 reb), Michelle Beasley 4 (2 reb, 1 stl), Sierra Florez 4 (2 reb, 1 ast), Alyssa Mascari 2 (2 reb), Suncerie Cofield 2 (2 reb, 1 stl).

MONTE VISTA 53, MAR VISTA 12 – Host Monte Vista bolted to a 17-0 first quarter lead and never looked back at visiting Mar Vista in Thursday’s (Dec. 30)

4th Annual Monarchs Classic action.

The Monarchs outscored the Mariners across the board to put themselves in a semifinal match-up against Steele Canyon on Friday (Dec. 31) at 12:30 in Spring Valley.

Ten Monarchs contributed to the scoring against the Mariners, with SHAMONIQUE BOYD leading the way with 12 scoring markers, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Senior DEANNA BEMBRY added 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals for Monte Vista (11-3).

Monte Vista: Shamonique Boyd 12 (7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Deanna Bembry 10 (9 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Tasha Brown 7 (3 ast, 1 ast, 1 stl), Stefanie Banks 5 (7 reb, 1 stl), Felicia Porter 5 (5 reb, 2 stl), Dionna Mercer 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Alex Ross 4 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Abigail Vargas 2 (2 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Dee Dee Morrison 2 (2 reb, 2 stl), Shantee Woods 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl).

GRANITE HILLS 45, SANTA FE (Nev.) 29 – The Eagles outscored Santa Fe in all four quarters of Thursday’s (Dec. 30) Las Vegas Holiday Classic.

JESSICA HARRIS paved the way with 19 points for Granite Hills, and SKYLAR WILLIAMS added 12 markers.

Granite Hills: Jessica Harris 19 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Skylar Williams 12 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Rae Luckett 6 (3 reb), Hailey Garner 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Kaylla Hawkins 2, Cora Leonard 2.

GROSSMONT 33, SALMON ARM (Canada) 22 – Mired in a recent slump, the Grossmont Foothillers used a powerhouse defense while mustering up enough offensive might to send the Canadians packing in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) finale of the Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational at Montgomery.

This game was all about balance as the Foothillers won all four quarters while scoring 10 in the first quarter, 9 in the second and 9 in the third.

“I’ve decided that if my team does not want to play I’m going to pull them off the floor,” said Grossmont coach MEGAN LONG. “The starters played two minutes and weren’t looking very good so I pulled them. My bench played the rest of the first quarter. When the starters went back in to the game they were ready to play. We were very lack-luster.

“We did a good job on defense – we completely dominated our opponents.”

Grossmont: Danielle Dahle 12 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 5 stl), Teyshonnia Bealer-West 9 (6 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl), Chloe Cook 9 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Carly Lopez 3, Ashley Hargrove (4 reb, 5 stl), Jamie Kautzman (3 reb, 2 stl), Christa Sawyers (3 reb), Katarina Schweitzer (3 reb, 1 stl), Karina Whitehouse (1 stl), Brianna Phillips (1 reb).

CALEXICO 54, VALHALLA 42 – Norsemen coach AL SILVA was quick to pinpoint the Valhalla shortcoming in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) Preps Division of the SoCal Holiday Preps Classic finale against visiting Calexico.

The Norsemen turned the ball over 20 times as Calexico rallied from a 23-20 first half deficit by outscoring Valhalla 34-19 in the second half.

“We had over 20 turnovers and you can’t win with that many,” said Silva. “We came out sluggish in the third quarter and just couldn’t get our shots to fall.”

Valhalla: Kandice Kalasho 10 (1 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl), Carli Gilstrap 8 (8 reb, 2 ast), Danielle Wilson 7 (11 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 5 stl), MacKenzie Cartmill 6 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Karissa Ferrell 5 (2 reb), Chelsea Hale 3 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Jordan DeLucchi 3 (4 reb).

EL CAJON VALLEY 66, JULIAN 21 – The numbers that El Cajon Valley junior CHELSEA BALL is wracking up these days are as good as any in the San Diego CIF. Ball banged in 35 points and collected 19 rebounds while recording 5 steals as El Cajon Valley won their third game in their last four starts in Thursday’s (Dec. 31) Braves Classic.

El Cajon Valley built a 42-11 halftime lead over visiting Julian and then cruised to the finish line.

NATASHA FERNANDEZ knocked down a trio of the Braves’ seven 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 35 (19 reb, 5 stl, 1 ast), Natasha Fernandez 11 (6 reb, 1 blk, 7 stl, 2 ast), Miranda Mullens 8 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), Brittany Swecker 5 (6 stl, 3 ast, 1 blk), Joanna de la Cruz 5 (1 blk, 3 stl), Miya Harris 2 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Danielle Santana (1 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), Sharde Williams (1 stl), Elizabeth Aguilar (1 reb, 1 stl), Stevy-mariah Gomez (1 reb).

ALHAMBRA (Ariz.) 63, HELIX 38 – Helix coach DEAN BRUNSON was amazed that Alhambra of Phoenix seemed to recognize everything the Highlanders tried to do in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) championship game of the Baron-Optimist Tournament at Bonita Vista.

“They made us look bad,” he said. “It’s like they’ve watched every game we’ve played because they had an answer to everything we did.”

Shutout during the first half when the Highlanders fell behind 29-13, Helix guard KRISTINA SCOTT landed a trio of triples and a 2-pointer over the final two quarters to lead the Highlanders with 11 points.

Helix: Kristina Scott 11, Kimberly Scott 9, Iesha Murray 8, Jasmine Hunn 7, Rudy Leasau 2, Faith Leaupepetele 1.

CANYON CREST 56, SANTANA 30 – The Sultans suffered their third straight loss as Canyon Crest outscored the Santee crew across the board in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) NAIA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

Santana came out flat at the start but picked up their energy in the second half, especially in the third quarter.

HALEY BURTON was the only Sultan to crack double figures as she netted 6 of 14 shots from the field and 2 of 5 free throws for 14 points.

KELSEY CONLEY paced Santana on the boards with 10 rebounds.

Santana: Haley Burton 14 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Lena Moss 6 (9 reb, 1 ast), Margie Panknin 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Bekka Martinez 2 (2 reb), Sydney Blackburn 2 (2 reb, 1 ast), Kelsey Conley (10 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Kim Gross (2 reb, 2 stl), Emerald Branson (3 reb), Sammy White (3 stl), Alex Breidt (1 reb).

KEARNY 57, CHRISTIAN 39 – CHAYAN LOWERY scored 19 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 4 shots as Christian (2-2) fell to Kearny in Thursday’s (Dec. 30) 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

Christian: Chayan Lowery 19 (9 reb, 4 blk), Mia Johnson 8 (2 reb, 1 ast), Monique Elliott 6 (3 reb), Alicia Lowery 3 (3 ast), Jillian Sexton 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Hayley Cruz 1 (3 reb, 1 blk).

Monte Vista's Alex Ross vs. Christian. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Updated PHOTO GALLERY HERE

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-30-10) — It’s not unusual for Mount Miguel to be playing for some kind of championship, as the Matadors (9-3) will be when they take on host Montgomery in the finals of Thursday’s (Dec. 30) Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational at 6:45 p.m.

On another championship front, West Hills (6-5) hosts Escondido in the title round of the TOC Division championship of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic on Thursday (Dec. 30) at 6 p.m.

MOUNT MIGUEL 39, MISSION HILLS 38 – The Matadors, who are under the tutelage of coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL, admit that they don’t like early morning basketball.

“We were sleep-walking in a cold gym,” Sandoval said of the Montgomery Invitational game on Thursday (Dec. 29) morning. “Maybe there were 20 people in the stands. And that is pretty sorry for a semifinal game.”

All of the Matadors’ points came from three players – DANIELLE MILLER, SHAY YOUNG and MYISHIA WATKINS.

Miller and Young shared high-point honors with 16 apiece and Watkins dished 10 assists.

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 16 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Shay Young 16 (8 reb, 1 stl), Myishia Watkins 7 (1 reb, 10 ast, 1 stl), Chantel Yell (3 reb), Dejanay Pope (2 reb), Breahna Jones (2 reb).

WEST HILLS 52, FRANCIS PARKER 24 – EMILY COLE scored 14 points to lead a defensive based West Hills challenge in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) TOC Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

“We started off really well,” said West Hills coach RYAN KINSER. “We played really good defense, especially in the first half. Our shooting today was better than it has been lately.”

West Hills: Emily Cole 14, Taylor Ingraham 10, Arielle Bowers 8, Haley Forsberg 6, Jillian Brown, Kylie Cristini 2, Alexa Evans 2, Daniana Ghandour 2, Kaitlin McLucas 2.

HELIX 56, SCRIPPS RANCH 39 – The Highlanders’ KRISTINA SCOTT scored a game high 23 points as Helix knocked off defending champion Scripps Ranch in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) Baron-Optimist Tournament at Bonita Vista.

“Our pressure defense created lots of problems (for Scripps Ranch),” said Helix coach DEAN BRUNSON. “It gave us chances to get into our transition game and run the floor. They started out in a 2-3 zone. The success of our offense got them out of the zone and they played man defense the whole fourth quarter.”

Helix: Kristina Scott 23, Chanelle Ward 7, Jacqueline Smith 6, Kimberly Scott 6, Jasmine Hunn 6, Iesha Murray 5, Kai Penn 3.

DOBSON 59, GRANITE HILLS 49 – SKYLAR WILLIAMS scored a career-high 26 points as the Eagles lost to Dobson in the second round of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic on Thursday (Dec. 29).

Granite Hills: Skylar Williams 26 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Jessica Harris 8 (4 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl), Keji Kubari 6 (2 reb), Kayla Kemp 2 (1 reb, 2 stl), Hailey Garner 2 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Rae Luckett 3, Cora Leonard 2.

GRANITE HILLS 54, CORONADO (Nev.) 41 – SKYLAR WILLIAMS continued her hot hand in the nightcap as she finished with 19 points in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic contest Thursday (Dec. 29) night.

“We kinda blew it open in the fourth quarter – went on a 20-0 run,” said Eagles coach JERRY PARKER. “Skylar played pretty well. We switched defenses at the end of the third quarter and it worked pretty well. We put KEJI (KUBARI) at the front of our press and she gave them some problems with her deflections. JESSICA (HARRIS) has been consistent with her leadership on the floor and controlling the tempo – something we’ve needed.”

“They full-court pressed us the whole game but we matched up man the whole game and did a great job handling their pressure.”

“We only had 3 turnovers the whole game,” Parker continued. “I was shocked, I even double-checked the figures I was so surprised.”

Granite Hills: Skylar Williams 19 (6 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Hailey Garner 11 (2 reb, 1 ast), Jessica Harris 9 (3 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Rae Luckett 7 (3 reb), Keji Kubari 6 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Kayla Kemp 2 (1 reb).

GROSSMONT 54, BRAWLEY 36 – TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST banged in 15 points as the Foothillers defeated Brawley in Wednesday’s (Dec. 29) Montgomery Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational contest.

”We were able to pressure Brawley and get steals,” said Foothillers coach MEGAN LONG. “Our defense won the game for us, and our half-court offense was very efficient.”

Grossmont: Teyshonnia Bealer-West 15 (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Danielle Dahle 11 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Chloe Cook 7 (2 reb, 2 ast), Carly Lopez 6 (1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Ashley Hargrove 6 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Katarina Schweitzer 5 (4 reb), Christa Sawyers 4 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Jamie Kautzman(2 reb), Karina Whitehouse (1 stl), Brianna Phillips (1 reb).

VALHALLA 64, El Paso-PARKLAND 30 – KANDICE KALASHO scored 24 points as the Norsemen knocked off El Paso Parkland in Thursday’s (Dec. 29)

Prep Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

DANIELLE WILSON hit her third straight double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks and 4 steals.

“We told the girls before the game that we’ve been relying too much on 3-point shooting,” said Valhalla coach AL SILVA. “We wanted them to take the ball to the basket more. Our shooting was much better today.”

Valhalla: Kandice Kalasho 24 (2 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Danielle Wilson 10, Sandi Kagy 8, Shyla Criger-Phillips 6 (5 reb, 1 stl, Jordan DeLucchi 5 (7 reb, 1 ast), Carli Gilstrap 4 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), MacKenzie Cartmill 3 (2 reb, 1 ast), Chelsea Hale 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Karissa Ferrell 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Alle Mims (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

MONTE VISTA 60, CHRISTIAN 21 – Sophomore FELICIA PORTER led the Monarchs with her first career double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds in Thursday’s (Dec. 29) 4th Annual Monarchs Classic contest in Spring Valley.

“We played hard,” said Monarchs coach MICHAEL SKIBBE. “Our defense played much better today.”

Monte Vista: Felicia Porter 15 (13 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Dionna Mercer 11 (3 reb, 1 ast), Alex Ross 9 (4 ast, 3 stl), Deanna Bembry 6 (13 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Abigail Vargas 5 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Stefanie Banks 5 (2 reb, 4 ast), Shamonique Boyd 5 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Tasha Brown 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Shantee Woods 2 (2 reb, 1 stl).

Steele Canyon's Jenesys Hayes vs. Fallbrook. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Not so. This is high school. Players in varsity uniforms should at least know the basics.

In game one of the Thursday (Dec. 29) WNBA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic Steele Canyon fell to Red Mountain of Arizona.

“Too many of our minds were focused on our opponents, not on what we needed to do,” said Cougars coach PENNY SMITH. “We got the shots we wanted, they just weren’t going in.”

Steele Canyon (vs. Red Mountain (Ariz.): Ali Merlino 12 (1 ast, 1 blk), Jenesys Hayes 11 (1 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 7 (2 stl), Samantha Vernon 6 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Michelle Beasley 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Monique Van 1 (4 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl).

In the second game of the day for the Cougars, Steele Canyon came on strong to overcome Fallbrook in the 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

In the first quarter MONIQUE VAN scored 7 of her 13 points and SAMANTHA VERNON chipped in with 6 of her 12 for Steele Canyon.

“It was a complete turnaround from our earlier effort,” said Cougars coach PENNY SMITH. “I was worried about how we might play the second game today. We got off to a great start and played with a great deal of confidence. Our defense set up our offense and really got us going.”

Steele Canyon (vs. Fallbrook): Monique Van 13 (8 reb, 2 ast, 8 stl), Samantha Vernon 12 (5 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Jenesys Hayes 10 (2 reb, 2 stl), Ali Merlino 7 (1 reb, 1 blk), Gabrielle Beasley 6 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Michelle Beasley 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

CASTLE PARK 46, EL CAJON VALLEY 43 – The Braves received their usual power double-double from CHELSEA BALL, who knocked down 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Wednesday’s (Dec. 29) Braves Classic action.

“We had opportunities to win the game,” said El Cajon Valley coach CARLOS MOSS. “We have not learned to react to close situations. We were down by 10 and worked our way back into the game and were setting up for a 3-point shot at the end of the game when we were called for a travel. That killed the game.”

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 23 (17 reb, 1 blk, 4 stl), Natasha Fernandez 11 (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl), Brittany Swecker 6 (1 ast, 8 stl), Miranda Mullens 2 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl), Sharde Williams 1 (3 reb), Danielle Santana (1 ast), Miya Harris (2 reb, 2 blk).

MIRA MESA 34, EL CAPITAN 24 – In a sluggish consolation affair in Wednesday’s (Dec. 29) Prep Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic, host El Capitan saw a 6-5 first quarter lead eventually evaporate as the Vaqueros (2-8) succumbed to the Marauders.

El Capitan: Robyn Logel 7, Amber Rel-Solia 6 (1 ast), Megan Drennen 5 (2 reb, 1 ast), Deanna Reed 2 (5 reb, 1 ast), Vanessa Carrillo 2 (5 reb), Vanessa Sierra 2 (6 reb, 1 ast), Tali Letoi (1 reb).

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 55, SANTANA 47 – No further information was provided for this NAIA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic contest.

West Hills' Haley Forsberg powers to the basket in a 62-17 pasting of Desert Pines of Las Vegas in SoCal Holiday Prep Classic action. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (12-29-10) — Although this is probably more than veteran Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL bargained for, his Matadors have “earned” a berth in the semifinals of the Montgomery Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational.

What took Sandoval by surprise is this semifinal contest will be played at 7:30 Wednesday morning.

“Obviously the scheduling of this tournament is a little bit confused,” said Sandoval, whose Matadors (8-3) belted El Camino 79-36 in Tuesday’s (Dec. 28) quarterfinals to advance to the prestigious semifinal round.

UNLV-bound DANIELLE MILLER paced the Matadors with 30 points and 10 rebounds against El Camino.

SHAY YOUNG chipped in with 20 points and 13 boards, while MYISHIA WATKINS added 15 points and 15 assists in the runaway win over the Wildcats.

“This was a better effort for us today defensively,” said Sandoval. “We did a good job attacking the basket. Our defense led into our offense. Miyishia Watkins did a great job handling the ball. She distributed the ball well.”

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 30 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl), Shay Young 20 (13 reb, 1 blk), Miyishia Watkins 15 (15 ast, 2 stl), Dejanay Pope 6 (3 reb), Dejah Blanks 4 (2 reb), Chantel Yell 2 (6 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Breahna Jones 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

MONTE VISTA 68, KEARNY 27 – SHAMONIQUE BOYD put together one of the finest games of her career with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday’s (Dec. 28) crushing of Kearny in the 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

Boyd, a 6-foot junior, landed 9 of 15 shots from the floor and 4 of 5 free throws.

ALEX ROSS connected on a trio of triples on her way to finish with 12 points for the Monarchs (9-3).

“There’s no pressure on us right now,” said Monte Vista coach MICHAEL SKIBBE.

No doubt Skibbe figures to take his team into Friday’s (Dec. 31) finals.

Monte Vista: Stephanie Boyd 22 (10 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Alex Ross 12 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Shantee Woods 8 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Abigail Vargas 7 (3 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl), Felicia Porter 7 (8 reb, 1 stl), Deanna Bembry 6 (12 reb, 3 ast), Dionna Mercer 4 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Dee Dee Morrison 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Stefanie Banks (6 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl).

EL CAJON VALLEY 62, LIBERTY CHARTER 12 – It's a recipe several schools have found for success, so the powers at El Cajon Valley High decided to also try its hand in hosting a tournament.

And following a disappointing 2-7 start to the season, no one on campus is now complaining after posting a 2-0 start during their inaugural Braves Classic.

On Tuesday (Dec. 28), paced by 25 points from junior NATASHA FERNANDEZ plus a second consecutive double-double by center CHELSEA BALL, ECVHS is currently riding high with its second 2-game winning streak of the season after downing its newest crosstown rival, Liberty Charter, 62-12.

"If we all work hard like we did today, we can be successful," said Fernandez, who nailed seven 3-point goals. "All of us can keep improving when we maintain our confidence."

Fernandez registered three of her triples in the opening period, helping the Braves mount a 20-2 lead over the first-year Lions (0-6) program. Meanwhile, Ball recorded 17 points and 21 rebounds, dominating the glass with 17 offensive rebounds to produce most of her points on putbacks.

The Braves also received balance from other areas of the court. Guard BRITTANY SWECKER posted seven assists and seven steals, MAYA HARRIS aided the defense with five steals, while MIRANDA MULLENS added five assists.

For Liberty, Genevieve Reichett and Katie Collins led with four points each. Included was a nice Reichett jumper from the elbow for the team's first field goal after ECVHS leaped to a 34-2 advantage against the inexperienced Lions, followed by a putback bucket by Ariel McKissack.

The Braves victory was by far their largest margin since stopping Christian, 51-11, on Dec. 15, 2008.

El Cajon Valley: Natasha Fernandez 25 (6 stl, 4 reb, 1 ast), Chelsea Ball 17 (21 reb, 5 stl, 1 blk), Brittany Swecker 6 (7 stl, 7 ast, 2 reb, 1 blk), Miranda Mullens 5 (5 ast, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 reb), Elizabeth Aguilar 3 (2 reb, 1 stl), Stevy Gomez 2 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Sharde Williams 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Danielle Santana 2 (7 reb, 2 stl, 1 ast), Maya Harris 0 (5 stl, 3 reb, 1 blk), Joanna de la Cruz 0 (3 reb, 2 stl).

El Capitan's Deanna Reed drives past a defender from Calexico in a 54-50 win. (Frank Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

EL CAPITAN 54, CALEXICO 50 – The Vaqueros used a 23-8 fourth quarter run to squeeze out their second victory in nine decisions.

MEGAN DRENNEN scored a season-high 16 points to lead the Vaqueros to the come-from-behind victory over Calexico in Tuesday’s (Dec. 28) Prep Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in Lakeside.

“We’re kinda like a light switch,” said El Capitan coach FRANK QUINONES. “One night the door is open and the light is on. The next night the door is closed, the light is off and we’re all asleep.”

Quinones had to reach deep for a halftime speech when Calexico led 28-22 at intermission.

“I told our girls that they need to have respect for the jersey they wear and the school they play for as well as respect for themselves,” Quinones said.

The Vaqueros broke a 50-50 tie when ROBYN LOGEL dropped in two free throws with 25 seconds left.

Calexico came back prepared to force a tie or hit a 3-pointer, but VANESSA CARRILLO made a clutch steal for the Vaqueros and took the ball in for a lay-up with 4 seconds left to steal the victory.

El Capitan: Megan Drennen 16 (4 reb, 4 ast), Amber Rel-Solia 14 (6 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Vanessa Sierra 9 (6 reb), Robyn Logel 6 (5 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk), Deanna Reed 5 (7 reb, 1 stl), Vanessa Carrillo 4 (2 reb), Bekah Leonard (3 reb).

WEST HILLS 62, DESERT PINES 17 – Challenged by heavy graduation and a powerful preseason schedule, West Hills balanced its record at 5-5 by dusting Desert Pines in Tuesday’s (Dec. 28) TOC Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

The Wolf Pack led 19-7 after one quarter and 36-9 after two periods.

“We ran our offense well and played aggressively on defense,” said Wolf Pack coach RYAN KINSER.

West Hills: Emily Cole 16, Taylor Ingraham 13, Haley Forsberg 8, Arielle Bowers 6, Jillian Brown 6, Katilin McLucas 5, Ja’Ana Diamon 3, Kylie Cristini 2, Jessica Scott 2, Alexa Evans 1.

CHRISTIAN 51, EL CENTRO-CENTRAL 23 – In their first two starts of the season the Patriots have matched last year’s win total by clobbering Central Union in the second round of Tuesday’s (Dec. 28) 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

MONIQUE ELLIOTT paced the Patriots (2-0) with 17 points, while ALICIA LOWERY contributed 16.

Six-foot-2 freshman CHAYAN LOWERY pulled down 8 rebounds and made 6 blocks to go along with 5 points.

“They pressured us at the start, but we got a few lay-ups early,” said Christian coach THOMAS LOWERY. “They dropped into a zone. Alicia and Mo shot well and Chayan blocked a lot of shots today. Our interior defense was good. We made them shoot over us – it distributed our percentage. We got a few steals and most of the steals we converted. Our girls did well today.”

Christian: Monique Elliott 17 (2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Alicia Lowery 16 (2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Mia Johnson 6 (2 ast, 1 stl), Chayan Lowery 5 (8 reb, 6 blk), Jillian Sexton 4 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Hayley Cruz 3 (3 reb), Mary Grabowski (6 reb).

HELIX 62, CHULA VISTA 43 – Once again the Highlanders received balanced scoring led by KIMBERLY SCOTT’s 14 markers and IESHA MURRAY’s 13 tallies to dispose of Chula Vista for their overall fourth straight win.

Helix built a 33-13 lead by halftime in the Baron-Optimist Tournament at Bonita Vista on Tuesday (Dec. 28).

“This game wasn’t as close as the final score might indicate,” said Helix coach DEAN BRUNSON. “Our pressure defense gave them absolute fits. We did a much better job on our half-court offense. We are really getting after people on defense, creating a lot of turnovers. It seems like the team is really getting used to what I am trying to teach them.”

Helix will face Scripps Ranch – the defending Baron-Optimist champion – in Wednesday’s (Dec. 29) match-up in the tourney.

Helix: Kimberly Scott 14, Iesha Murray 13, Kristina Scott 9, Faith Leaupepetele 9, Sarah Meredith 6, Kai Penn 5, Jasmine Hunn 2, Rudy Leasau 2, Grace Osoimalo 2.

HORIZON 79, STEELE CANYON 55; TORREY PINES 80, STEELE CANYON 49 – Playing in two tournaments simultaneously, the Cougars absorbed a 79-55 loss to Horizon in the 4th Annual Monarchs Classic, and then was clubbed by Torrey Pines 80-49 in the WNBA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

“My team decided to give up in the first quarter,” said coach PENNY SMITH, whose Cougars fell behind 20-8 after one quarter. “We’re not doing the little things it takes to win. We have poor fundamentals.”

ALI MERLINO led the Cougars with 20 points and GABRIELLE BEASLEY added 17 in the loss to Hrizon.

SAMANTHA VERNON paced Steele Canyon with 18 points against Torrey Pines.

Steele Canyon (vs. Horizon): Ali Merlino 20 (6 reb, 2 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 17 (1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Michelle Beasley 6 (1 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Sierra Florez 6 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Monique Van 4 (5 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Samantha Vernon 2 (5 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Jessica Thompson (1 reb, 1 ast), Alyssa Mascari (1 reb), Jenesys Hayes (1 ast).

Steele Canyon (vs. Torrey Pines): Samantha Vernon 18 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Michelle Beasley 7 (5 reb), Jenesys Hayes 7 (1 ast, 3 stl), Sierra Florez 6 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, Gabrielle Beasley 4 (1 stl), Ali Merlino 3 (3 reb), Monique Van 2 (6 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl), Alyssa Mascari 2.

Kandice Kalasho, who paced all Norsemen with 13 points, can also play some defense in Tuesday's tournament contest against Valley Center. (Photo by Ruth Mims) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

“We let it get away from us in the first quarter,” said Norsemen coach AL SILVA. “We played them fairly evenly the rest of the game.”

KANDICE KALASHO paced Valhalla with 13 points, while DANIELLE WILSON rolled a double-double of 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

CARLI GILSTRAP captured a personal best 11 rebounds for the Norsemen.

Valhalla: Kandice Kalasho 13 (1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Danielle Wilson 11 (14 reb, 5 blk, 2 stl, MacKenzie Cartmill 7 (2 reb, 1 ast), Sandi Kagy 3 (1 reb), Karissa Ferrell 3 (2 reb, 1 ast), Jordan DeLucchi 1 (5 reb, 1 ast), Chelsea Hale ( 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Shyla Criger-Phillipps Carli Gilstrap (11 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

MONTGOMERY 41, GROSSMONT 28 – Montgomery Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational, Tue., Dec. 28.

Grossmont: Teyshonnia Bealer-West 15 (7 reb, 3 stl), Danielle Dahle 7 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk), Ashley Hargrove 3 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), Christa Sawyers 3 (2 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Chloe Cook (2 ast, 2 stl), Katarina Schweitzer (1 ast).

NORTHWOOD 44, SANTANA 37 – No further report on this NAIA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic was available from Tue., Dec. 28.

FAIRFAX 43, GRANITE HILLS 36 – Las Vegas Holiday Classic, Tue., Dec. 28.

Granite Hills: Skylar Williams 16, Jessica Harris 12, Hailey Garner 3, Kayla Kemp 2, Cora Leonard 2, Keji Kubari 1.

GRANITE HILLS 53, ELKO (Nev ) 26 – Las Vegas Holiday Classic, Tue., Dec. 28.

Granite Hills: Jessica Harris 16, Skylar Williams 16, Kayla Kemp 8, Keji Kubari 4, Hailey Garner 3, Rae Luckett 3, Cora Leonard 2.

© East County Sports.com
SAN DIEGO (12-28-10) — Junior SHAY YOUNG scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Mount Miguel past Irvine-Beckman, 57-46, in Monday’s (Dec. 27) opening round of the Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational at Montgomery.

“I scored mostly inside off assists from MYISHIA (WATKINS) and DANIELLE (MILLER),” said Young, who finished one point shy of her career high.

“They were in a 2-3 zone, which allowed me to score a lot of my points off lay-ups,” Young said. “I know this year that we’re going to have to depend more on our offense than defense, but I also know that coach believes defense is the key to victory.”

Young is being recruited by Fresno State, Kansas State, Loyola Marymount, Portland State and Denver.

“Shay Young was really on top of her game today,” said Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL. “She was strong all game.”

Mount Miguel: Shay Young 31 (14 reb, 3 blk, 4 stl), Danielle Miller 12 (6 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 7 stl), Myishia Watkins 10 (5 reb, 10 ast, 3 stl), Chantel Yell 2 (1 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl), Dejanay Pope 2, Breahna Jones (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

WEST HILLS 56, LAWNDALE 32 – West Hills used a 22-7 first quarter start in Monday’s (Dec. 27) TOC Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic to mow down Lawndale.

EMILY COLE led the charge for the Wolf Pack (4-5) with 17 points, 4 assists and 6 steals.

“We pressed and got off on them early,” said Wolf Pack coach RYAN KINSER. “We took the press off in the second quarter. We looked like a team that has not been in a gym in over a week. Our shooting was really off. We were able to give all of our roster extended playing time.”

West Hills: Emily Cole 17 (5 reb, 4 ast, 6 stl), Jillian Brown 11 (4 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Haley Forsberg 10 (8 reb, 1 blk), Taylor Ingraham 9 (4 reb, 3 ast), Kylie Cristini 4 (3 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Arielle Bowers 3 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Ja’Ana Diamon 2, Katilin McLucas (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl).

VALHALLA 58, EC-SOUTHWEST 30 – Speaking of fast starts, the Norsemen laid one on El Centro Southwest in the opening quarter of Monday’s (Dec. 27) Prep Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

That would be a 22-4 lead for Valhalla (8-3) in the first quarter and continued on to be a balanced attack for the Norsemen.

MacKENZIE CARTMILL poured in 17 points to lead an even attack for Valhalla that included a double-double by DANIELLE WILSON of 12 points and 12 rebounds.

“In our pregame meeting I told the team we had to get off to a quick start,” said Norsemen coach AL SILVA. “This is something we have not done lately but we came out today and did so. We played tough defense in the first half. Our press led to a good transition game. We shot the game real well today.”

Valhalla: MacKenzie Cartmill 17 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Danielle Wilson 12 (12 reb, 3 ast, 5 blk, 6 stl), Karissa Ferrell 10 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Kandice Kalasho 9 (1 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Jordan DeLucchi 4 (4 reb), Sandy Kagy 3 (4 reb), Carli Gilstrap 3 (7 reb), 1 ast, 1 stl).

STEELE CANYON 54, SAN PASQUAL 41; CATHEDRAL CANYON 54, STEELE CANYON 46 – For some reason, which was not included on its original schedule, Steele Canyon has found itself competing in two tournaments at the same time.

That hardly sounds like a good idea, especially since the Cougars were a late addition to the WNBA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic, pitted against Cathedral Catholic.

The Cougars won their opening round game against San Pasqual (9-3) in the 4th Annual Monarchs Classic, as ALI MERLINO hit 11 of 17 shots from the floor on her way to a game-high 26 points for the Cougars.

Steele Canyon shot better than 48 percent overall against San Pasqual.

“We came out pretty good at the start,” said Cougars assistant coach RODNEY VAN. “Ali Merlino was unstoppable all game. We pulled away in the fourth quarter.”

In the second round bout against Cathedral Catholic the Cougars wrestled their way to an 18-17 first half lead. They maintained a 34-33 advantage after three quarters before wilting – no doubt because of the double-header – in the fourth quarter.

“We played them pretty even for three quarters,” said Cougars assistant coach RODNEY VAN. We just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.”

Steele Canyon (vs. San Pasqual): Ali Merlino 26 (5 reb), Michelle Beasley 10 (2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 7 (2 ast, 1 stl), Samantha Vernon 7 (2 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Jenesys Hayes 3 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Monique Van 1 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Sierra Florez (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Alyssa Mascari (1 reb).

Steele Canyon (vs. Cathedral): Samantha Vernon 9 (10 reb), Jenesys Hayes 9 (1 reb, 1 ast), Monique Van 8 (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 8 (1 ast), Ali Merlino 7 (4 reb), Michelle Beasley 5 (1 ast).

MONTE VISTA 44, EL CENTRO-CENTRAL 16 – DEANNA BEMBRY scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Monarchs past visiting Central Union in Monday’s (Dec. 27) opening round of the 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

Monte Vista (8-3) built a 28-3 halftime lead and led 42-5 after three quarters.

“SHANTEE WOODS really handled the ball well today,” Monarchs coach MICHAEL SKIBBE said.

Monte Vista: Deanna Bembry 17 (9 reb, 5 stl), Felicia Porter 7 (9 reb, 3 stl), Dionna Mercer 6 (4 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Stefanie Banks 5 (4 reb, 1 stl), Dee Dee Morrison 4 (2 reb, 2 stl), Alex Ross 3 (1 reb, 3 stl), Abigail Vargas 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Stephanie Boyd (4 reb), Shantee Woods (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

CHRISTIAN 33, MAR VISTA 31 – Six-foot-2 freshman CHAYAN LOWERY scored a game-high 15 points for the Christian Patriots in Monday’s (Dec. 27) opener of the 4th Annual Monarchs Classic.

“CHAYAN played well for us tonight,” said her coach and father THOMAS LOWERY. “She had 9 of our 13 points in the second quarter.”

“We’re much better than we were last year,” said the coach. “We’re still young – have just one senior on the team.”

Christian: Chayan Lowery 15 (8 reb, 5 blk), Alicia Lowery 5, Hayley Cruz 4, Mia Johnson 3, Monique Elliott 3, Jillian Sexton 2, Mary Grabowski 1.

EL CAMINO 42, GROSSMONT 39 – Playing at 7:30 in the morning, a coach can never expect her team to play at the ultimate level.

Such was the case for MEGAN LONG’s Foothillers (8-4) who eventually fell to El Camino in the first round of the Lady Aztec Holiday Invitational at Montgomery.

“We got off to a terrible start – we weren’t ready to play,” said Long. “We were down 12 in the second quarter. Our press got to them and we were able to cut their lead to one point at halftime.”

“We were flat again in the third quarter and fell behind by five. We came back again in the fourth quarter and took a one point lead. They were really strong down the stretch. They were a big, physical team. Those teams have bothered us all year.”

DANIELLE DAHLE turned a double-double for Grossmont with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.

“Dahle was the only player who shot close today. You aren’t going to beat anybody shooting 15-for-60,” Long added.

Grossmont: Danielle Dahle 17 (10 reb, 3 ast, 4 blk, 2 stl), Chloe Cook 11 (1 reb, 1 stl), Teyshonnia Bealer-West 6 (9 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Ashley Hargrove 5 (3 reb, 1 ast, 7 stl), Christa Sawyers (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), Carly Lopez (1 reb).

HELIX 60, MORSE 42 – KIMBERLY SCOTT scored 19 points as the Highlanders downed Morse in Monday’s (Dec. 27) opening round of the Baron-Optimist Tournament.

“We used a variety of pressure defenses in the first three quarters,” said Helix coach DEAN BRUNSON. “I don’t think we played well in long stretches. We got a good portion of our offense in our transition game. For the first time all season we looked comfortable shooting 3s. We had six as a team.

“KRISTINA SCOTT had 3 three-pointers for us. She was on top of her game,” Brunson said.

Helix: Kimberly Scott 19, Kristina Scott 11, Faith Leaupepetele 6, Jacqueline Smith 6, Iesha Murray 5, Chanelle Ward 5, Rudy Leasau 4, Kai Penn 2, Jasmine Hunn 2.

SANTANA 57, JOHN MARSHALL 50 – SAMMY WHITE had a career night for Santana as the Sultans knocked off John Marshall (Cleveland, OH) in Monday’s (Dec. 27) opening round of the NAIA Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in Santee.

White drilled in 5 three-pointers on her way to a 23 point finish.

“It was definitely her night,” said Sultans assistant coach MIKE BENNETT.

Santana: Sammy White 23, Margie Panknin 13, Kim Gross 12, Amanda Grable 5, Sydney Blackburn 4.

EXETER 41, EL CAPITAN 21 – The Vaqueros suffered their seventh loss in eight starts to Exeter of Central California in the first round of the Prep Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic on Monday (Dec. 27).

“I don’t what it is but I think our girls thinks they’re still on vacation,” said El Capitan coach FRANK QUINONES.

El Capitan: Vanessa Sierra 7 (4 reb), Robyn Logel 6 (3 reb, 1 ast), Vanessa Carrillo 4 (5 reb, 2 stl), Deanna Reed 2 (2 reb, 1 stl), Galvan 2 (1 stl), Amber Rel-Solia (1 reb, 1 ast), Vanessa Eastgate (1 reb), Megan Drennen (4 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Bekah Leonard (3 reb, 1 ast).

EL CAJON VALLEY 51, WEST SHORES 15 – Braves junior center CHELSEA BALL became the second known player in school history to register 30 rebounds, powering El Cajon Valley (3-8) past the visitors from Salton CIty in the Imperial Valley .

Along with her 30 boards, Ball completed her double-double with a game-high 19 points, while guard NATASHA FERNANDEZ chipped in with a double-double of her own with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks in the Braves Classic contest victory.

The only known ECVHS player to collect more boards than Ball was a 31-effort by All-CIF center AMY HILLENBRAND, when the Braves last captured a league title in 1983 (the last spring season before the sport switched to the winter in 1983-84) with a record of 15-1 to capture the 9-team Grossmont Conference.

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 19 (30 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl), Natasha Fernandez 15 (10 reb, 4 blk, 3 ast), Miranda Mullens 8 (4 reb, 5 ast), Danielle Santana 5 (4 reb, 2 ast), Maya Harris 3 (8 reb), Joanna de la Cruz 1.

© East County Sports.com
CHULA VISTA (12-23-10) — The Grossmont Foothillers pulled out a 61-57 non-league overtime victory at Olympian on Wednesday (Dec. 22) to post their 8th win in 11 decisions.

Grossmont leads the East County in wins.

Despite a balanced attack – where four Foothillers reached double scoring digits – Grossmont was scrambling at the end to pull out the victory.

It appeared that Grossmont might win this one in regulation when TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST scored a lay-up, giving the Hillers a 52-50 advantage with 10 seconds remaining. Olympian, however, countered with a lay-up with 2 seconds remaining to force overtime.

Olympian picked up the early pace in OT by sinking a 3-pointer. Grossmont replied with three straight baskets – two coming off transition – to take a lead it would not surrender.

“We’ve established a trend which is not all that good,” said Hillers coach MEGAN LONG. “It seems like we’re always able to take the early lead but then we let teams back into the game.”

Grossmont led 14-9 after one quarter but trailed Olympian 36-32 after three frames.

“I have to give my girls credit because they did a good job of coming back,” Long noted.

Grossmont will hear reveille in its next tournament – the Aztec Holiday Classic at Montgomery on Monday (Dec. 27) when they take on El Camino at 7:30 a.m.

“Guess we’ll be getting up early that day,” Long said. “But think about El Camino. They’ll probably be getting up at 4 a.m. I know my girls will have to be here early but hopefully they’ll come and play hard and I’ll buy them breakfast and send them home to get some sleep.”

Grossmont: Danielle Dahle 15 (10 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 5 stl), Christa Sawyers 14 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Teyshonnia Bealer-West 11 (8 reb, 1 stl), Chloe Cook 10 (1 reb), Ashley Hargrove 7 (3 reb), Katarina Schweitzer 4 (2 reb, 1 stl), Jamie Kautzman (1 reb, 1 stl), Carly Lopez (1 reb).

STEELE CANYON 42, RAMONA 37 – Many coaches tend to complain about having too many games without enough practice time in between. That’s not the case with Steele Canyon.

The Cougars (2-4) looked pretty sharp in the first quarter as they took a 15-4 lead, and extended their advantage to 27-14 in Wednesday’s (Dec. 22) non-league action at Ramona.

“We had a long layoff, and it showed,” said Cougars assistant coach RODNEY VAN. “We made too many turnovers and our free throw (9-for-20) wasn’t very good. It was our defense that kept us in the game.”

Another plus for the Cougars was their 16-for-34 shooting from the floor. ALI MERLINO, a 5-foot-11 junior post, connected on 7 of 11 field goals on her way to a team best 17 points.

Steele Canyon: Ali Merlino 17 (6 reb, 1 ast), Monique Van 7 (7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Michelle Beasley 7 (3 reb, 2 ast), Samantha Vernon 5 (3 reb, 1 blk), Gabrielle Beasley 4 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Sierra Florez 2 (1 reb, 1 blk), Jenesys Hayes (1 reb).

LACES 53, MOUNT MIGUEL 41 — The Matadors completed a 1-3 showing in the second toughest division of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix on Wednesday (Dec. 22).

In round four the Matadors (6-3) were playing catch-up from the get-go.

“To be honest, it seemed like we were ready to go home,” observed Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL. “The interest and the energy just wasn’t there. Basically we didn’t play any defense at all this week.”

But Sandoval was quick to note that the competition was challenging.

Canyon Springs, which destroyed the Matadors by 30 points the night before, had three Division I players on the floor. And LACES was only a step behind, featuring Pepperdine-bound E.A. Shoushtari, a 5-foot-9 guard, and 6-foot-1 forward Taylor Holeman, who is ticketed for Villanova.

“I really believe we had a chance against LACES had we played them earlier in the tournament,” Sandoval said.

The Matadors trailed LACES 17-10 after one quarter and 31-20 by halftime.

DANIELLE MILLER turned in another strong offensive game with 20 points, including a trio of triples. She also led the Matadors with 9 rebounds and 6 steals.

“Miller had an excellent tournament. She was a regular scoring machine for us,” Sandoval noted.

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 20 (9 reb, 6 stl), Shay Young 10 (5 reb), Myishia Watkins 9 (6 ast, 4 stl), Chantel Yell 2 (2 stl).

MARIN CATHOLIC 50, MONTE VISTA 20 — Monarchs coach MICHAEL SKIBBE didn’t like what he saw from his Monte Vista girls on Wednesday (Dec. 22) in the last leg of the Nike Tournament of Champions. So before flying the team home for the holidays, Skibbe arranged a site to conduct an impromptu practice in the Phoenix area.

“We need the work,” he said. “Then we’ll come home and take three days off before hosting our own tournament on Monday (Dec. 27).”

Nobody scored more than six points for Monte Vista (7-3), which committed 23 turnovers in the loss to Marin Catholic

Monte Vista: Felicia Porter 6 (4 reb), Deanna Bembry 4 (8 reb), Shantee Woods 4 (3 reb), Abigail Vargas 4 (1 reb), Stefanie Banks 2 (6 reb), Tasha Brown (3 reb), Shamonique Boyd (1 reb), Alex Ross (3 reb), Dee Dee Morrison (1 reb).

SD-MATER DEI 63, SANTANA 28 — The stone cold Sultans shot a paltry 15 percent, netting just six of 40 shots from the field in Wednesday’s (Dec. 22) Vaquero Invitational action at Serra.

Half of the Santana baskets were three-pointers by AMANDA GRABLE, who accounted for 10 of the Sultans points.

“When you can make only six baskets in four quarters you’re not playing very well,” Santana coach MARK TIPTON said. “We made only three buckets in each half.”

Santana (3-4) concludes the Vaquero Invitational against Rancho Buena Vista on Thursday (Dec. 23) in San Marcos at 3 p.m.

Santana: Amanda Grable 10, Margie Panknin 6, Kim Gross 5, Sammy White 2, Sydney Blackburn 2, Emerald Branson 2, Lena Moss 1.

LOWER LAKE 65, EL CAPITAN 27 — The Vaqueros lost for the sixth time in seven starts in Wednesday’s (Dec. 29) consolation championship of the Fort Bragg Holiday Classic.

In a report by the area’s local paper The Lake County Record Bee... Veronica Wilder scored 14 of her team-leading 25 points in the first quarter as the Lower Lake Trojans pressed the air out of the basketball and opponent El Capitan.

“I don't think they've ever seen a press before," Lower Lake coach Jim Salmina said.

Multiple steals by the Trojans – who had 24 in the game – propelled them to a 22-8 first-quarter lead.

El Capitan hung around until the second half when Lower Lake put the game out of reach with a 19-3 third-quarter blitz.

No El Capitan scoring or statistics were reported.

© East County Sports.com
FORT BRAGG (12-22-10) — After absorbing what probably would qualify as the most stinging defeat in El Capitan history a day earlier, the Vaqueros outscored host Fort Bragg, 49-25, in Tuesday’s (Dec. 21) second round of the Fort Bragg Holiday Classic.

AMBER REL-SOLIA led the Vaqueros (1-5) with her finest game of the season by scoring 21 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and recording 4 steals.

“This has been a good team bonding trip – watching movies and we went to Alcatraz, had a pillow fight and have team dinners,” Rel-Solia said. “Our team really enjoys each others’ company. All the other teams (in this tournament) are more local than us – we’re the farthest away.”

El Capitan would just as soon forget the first round of the tournament, when Notre Dame of Belmont belted them by taking a 43-1 first half lead.

“We had a rough first day,” admitted Rel-Solia, who was 5-for-5 from the charity stripe in the win over Fort Bragg. “The team that we played yesterday won the tournament last year. Today we played like we should have played yesterday. We changed our game slightly. We definitely did not know about (Notre Dame) in advance.”

El Capitan: Amber Rel-Solia 21 (12 reb, 3 blk, 4 stl), Robyn Logel 8 (2 reb, 3 ast), Bekah Leonard 5 (8 reb, 1 blk), Vanessa Sierra 5 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Deanna Reed 4 (7 reb, 3 ast), Vanessa Carrillo 4 (5 reb, 1 blk), Megan Drennen 2 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk).

PIEDMONT 56, MONTE VISTA 34 – Poor shooting led to the Monarchs’ demise in Tuesday’s (Dec. 21) Nike Tournament of Champions contest in Phoenix.

The Piedmont Highlanders (7-3) took a 16-9 first quarter lead but didn’t break the game open until the final period when they claimed an 18-4 scoring advantage.

Monte Vista made on 3 of 25 shots from 3-point distance and shot 26 percent overall. Things weren’t much better at the free throw line as the Monarchs converted only 5 of 12 chances.

“We couldn’t make anything today,” said Monarchs coach MICHAEL SKIBBE. “Nothing went right. We were sluggish and exhausted the whole game. Their press was too much for us. We were actually down one bucket in the third quarter but they went on a run and we couldn’t handle it.”

Monte Vista: Deanna Bembry 8 (8 reb), Abigail Vargas 8, Alex Ross 6 (1 reb, 2 ast), Stephanie Boyd 4 (2 reb), Dionna Mercer 2 (5 reb, 5 ast), Tasha Brown 2 (3 reb), Shantee Woods (2 reb, 1 ast), Dee Dee Morrison (3 reb), Stefanie Banks (3 reb), Felicia Porter (2 reb).

CANYON SPRINGS 73, MOUNT MIGUEL 43 – It’s not often that coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL’s Mount Miguel Matadors are cuffed around in the manner that they were in Tuesday’s (Dec. 21) by Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix.

Perennial power Canyon Springs (7-2) of Moreno Valley, the No. 10 ranked team in California, bullied the Matadors from the opening tip.

The Cougars led 40-20 by halftime and game was all but over.

“We just got our butts kicked,” said Sandoval. “They were really big across the board. They out-rebounded us, they out-scored us and they outplayed us in every facet of the game.”

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 20, Shay Young 12, Myishia Watkins 11.

PINE CREEK (Colo.) defeated SANTANA –The injury-riddled Sultans were no match for undefeated Pine Creek (6-0) of Colorado Springs in the Vaquero Invitational on Tuesday (Dec. 21) at San Marcos.

The Sultans, who trailed by only 12 points, saw the game turn into a rout in the second half when coach MARK TIPTON had to hold out two key players – KIM GROSS and HALEY BURTON – due to nagging injuries.

“Pine Creek is one of those teams like Mount Miguel,” Tipton said. “Everything they do is right.”

No other information was available.

Santana's Sydney Blackburn (3) (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

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PHOENIX (12-21-10) — Senior DANIELLE MILLER helped the Mount Miguel Matadors show why they are the No. 23-ranked team in the state in Monday’s (Dec. 20) White Division of the Nike Tournament of Champions 79-71 victory over Pacific Palisades.

The 5-foot-8 guard, who averaged 20.3 points in her first six games, erupted for a career high and tournament record 40 points as the Matadors improved to 6-1.

Fifteen of Miller’s points and eight of MYISHIA WATKINS’ 19 came in the second quarter as Mount Miguel scored 33 points to overcome a 19-14 deficit.

“Danielle hadn’t really played well the last two games,” Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL said. “She picked it up this game. They wound up fouling her because they couldn’t guard her.”

The UNLV-bound Miller burned the Dolphins (6-4) by converting 13 of 18 free throws. She also hauled down 10 rebounds, registered 7 steals, dished 3 assists and blocked 2 shots.

“That’s the most points I’ve ever had a player score in a game since I’ve been at Mount Miguel,” said Sandoval, now in his 11th season at the Matadors’ helm.

Miller clicked on 12 of 18 shots from the floor, which included netting a trio of triples.

SHAY YOUNG chipped in with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Matadors, who take on No. 12 rated Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley on Tuesday (Dec. 21) at noon.

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 40 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 7 stl), Myishia Watkins 19 (4 reb, 9 ast, 5 stl), Shay Young 14 (11 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl), Breahna Jones 4 (5 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Ashley Shepard 2, Chantel Yell (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Dejanay Pope (4 reb, 1 stl).

MONTE VISTA 51, BASHA (Ariz ) 39 – The Monarchs (7-1) shot 57 percent from the floor led by SHAMONIQUE BOYD’s 8-for-10 as they overcame a 3-point halftime deficit to belt Basha (Chandler, Ariz.) in the Red Division of the Nike Tournament of Champions at Phoenix on Monday (Dec. 20).

Boyd finished with a game-high 20 points while DEANNA BEMBRY rolled a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds for Monte Vista.

Monte Vista erased a 20-17 deficit with a 20-6 scoring roll in the third quarter.

“We were sloppy at the start and we played much stronger in the second half,” said Monarchs coach MICHAEL SKIBBE. “I must have given them an interesting talk at halftime. We played our game in the second half and made them play us. We had good balance in all phases of the game today. This was a good bounceback game for us.”

Monte Vista: Stephanie Boyd 20 (7 reb), Deanna Bembry 12 (14 reb, 5 ast), Abigail Vargas 7 (3 stl), Dionna Mercer 3 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Alex Ross 3 (3 reb, 2 ast), Stefanie Banks 3, Shantee Woods 2 (2 ast, 3 stl), Tasha Brown 1 (5 reb, 1 stl), Felicia Porter (5 reb).

SANTANA 37, DEL NORTE 35 – Santana slapped the defensive clamps on Del Norte in the second half of Monday’s (Dec. 20) first round of the Vaquero Invitational.

Sultans coach MARK TIPTON praised the defensive prowess of TAYLOR BARRY and ALEX BREIDT.

“They held Del Norte’s best player without a shot in the second half,” said Tipton, whose Sultans (3-2) trailed 25-13 at intermission. “They did a great job playing man-to-man.”

Although none of the Sultans reached double scoring digits, it didn’t matter to Tipton.

“I challenged KIM GROSS and MARGIE PANKNIN at halftime to provide us with some senior leadership,” he said. “And they came through.”

The Sultans, who had not played a game in 12 days – “we looked like it in the first half” – held the Nighthawks to 10 points over the final two quarters.

Santana: Kim Gross 9 (7 reb), Haley Burton 8 (6 reb), Sammy White 8 (4 reb), Sydney Blackburn 4 (2 ast), Margie Panknin 6 (3 reb, 2 ast), Alex Breidt 2.

Belmont-NOTRE DAME 57, EL CAPITAN 14 – The Vaqueros suffered their fifth straight loss falling to Notre Dame of Belmont in Monday’s (Dec. 20) opening round of the Fort Bragg Holiday Classic. The Tigers clawed their way to a 27-1 first-quarter lead and were breezing 43-1 by intermission.

El Capitan: Bekah Leonard 4 (4 reb), Vanessa Carrillo 4 (2 reb), Amber Rel-Solia 3 (3 reb, 1 ast), Deanna Reed 2 (3 reb, 1 stl), Megan Drennen 1 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Robyn Logel (3 reb), Alejandra Parsons (1 ast).

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EL CAJON (12-19-10) — Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER won’t come out and say it but he was concerned when his Eagles opened the season with four straight losses.

Parker’s demeanor has changed greatly in the last week as his Eagles have posted five straight wins, including a 39-38 victory over Sweetwater in Saturday’s (Dec. 18) championship game of the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational.

Trailing by 7 points after blowing a first half lead the Eagles got a lift from junior KAYLA KEMP, who buried a pair of 3-pointers.

That set the stage for HAILEY GARNER to deliver the knockout punch for the Eagles when she hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining to put the Eagles up by one point.

Sweetwater was able to get off a last second shot but missed the mark. Granite Hills came down with the rebound with 1.8 seconds remaining.

Kemp, who finished with 8 points, considers herself a perimeter shooter.

“Hailey gave me a great pass and I was able to hit the first 3-pointer from the left side,” Kemp said. “The second 3-pointer came off a pass from JESSICA HARRIS at the top of the key.”

Garner, who made only 2 free throws in the game, saved her best for last.

“Yeah it was very noisy in the gym,” she said. “But I had a (Sweetwater) girl behind me who kept telling me I was going to miss. That just made me want to make them more.”

Garner, who missed her only other free throw in the first half, said she didn’t feel any pressure with the game on the line.

“When I made the first one I can’t really say it made the second one any easier,” she added. “I just knew I had to make them both.”

Granite Hills: Skylar Williams 12, Jessica Harris 11, Kayla Kemp 8, Hailey Garner 5, Rae Luckett 2, Keji Kubari 1.

GRANITE HILLS 44, GROSSMONT 38 – The Foothillers started fast, putting the Eagles down 15-7 after the first quarter of Saturday’s (Dec. 18) semifinal game of the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational.

But Granite Hills applied the defensive clamps to gain a 27-10 scoring advantage in the middle two quarters. SKYLAR WILLIAMS, who scored 12 points in the championship game, was also the workhorse in the semifinal game with 12 points against Grossmont.

“They kinda jumped out on us,” noted Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER. “We did a great job in the second and third quarters. In the fourth quarter I thought we could have done a little better. I thought we let them get the ball inside too much.

“Grossmont started off with the lead then we climbed back to 19-18 at the half. We need to quit worrying about who’s scoring and who’s blocking shots. Sometimes we get a little caught up in that.”

DANIELLE DAHLE knocked down 5 of 10 shots from the floor for Grossmont to finish with a team-best 14 points.

TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST added 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Foothillers.

“We came out good – had a 7-0 lead,” said Grossmont coach MEGAN LONG. “We are not handling pressure very well this time of the season. Again, we turned the ball over too much and their press bothered us.”

Granite Hills: Skylar Williams 12, Jessica Harris 10, Maddy Sheeran 9, Cora Leonard 6, Keji Kubari 4, Rae Luckett 3.

Grossmont: Danielle Dahle 14 (5 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl), Teyshonnia Bealer-West 10 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Chloe Cook 6 (3 ast, 2 stl), Katarina Sweitzer 6 (1 reb), Carly Lopez 2 (1 ast), Christa Sawyers (4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Nancy Chavez (1 stl).

MONTGOMERY 46, GROSSMONT 31 – The Foothillers seemed to be out of gas. Only three players scored for Grossmont in the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational consolation contest, led by TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST’s 17 points.

“We were sluggish, lack-luster and had no energy whatsoever,” said Foothillers coach MEGAN LONG. “We had 28 turnovers. We were up 6-0 early then we gave them the game.”

Grossmont: Teyshonnia Bealer-West 17 (6 reb, 1 stl), Danielle Dahle 12 (7 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl), Katarina Schweitzer 2 (3 reb, 3 stl), Chloe Cook (1 ast, 1 stl), Christa Sawyers (1 reb, 1 stl), Jamie Kautzman (1 reb).

KENNEDALE (Texas) 61, MOUNT MIGUEL 44 – Playing in the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Ariz., Mount Miguel was overmatched against Kennedale (9-3) of Texas.

“They’re a good team but it was more about us than it was about them,” commented Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL.

Kennedale led 32-25 at halftime before breaking the game open with a 23-11 scoring run in the third quarter.

Mount Miguel’s big three – SHAY YOUNG (17 points, 8 rebounds), DANIELLE MILLER (14 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals) and MYISHIA WATKINS (10 points, 6 assists) – could not keep the Matadors (5-1) in contention.

Mount Miguel: Shay Young 17 (8 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Danielle Miller 14 (9 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl), Myishia Watkins 10 (2 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl), Dejanay Pope 2 (2 reb, 1 stl), Chantel Yell (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl).

UNIVERSITY CITY 60, VALHALLA 40; VALHALLA 49, BRAWLEY 43 – First-year Valhalla head coach AL SILVA likes to talk about ‘a new era’ in Norsemen’s girls basketball.

Considering his team is off to a 7-3 start, Silva is making a point. Probably the bottom line is his girls believe what Silva is talking about.

Although the Norsemen were never in contention against University City, they used a 16-3 scoring run to overcome Brawley in consolation play of the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational on Saturday (Dec. 18).

Against University City, Silva said “We just weren’t hitting anything from outside and we turned the ball over about 23 times. DANIELLE WILSON had another good game – she had back-to-back good games.”

Against Brawley, it was more of a team effort. KARISSA FERRELL and CARLI GILSTRAP combined for 23 points to lead the Norsemen.

Gilstrap also led board-crashing Valhalla with 8 rebounds, while Wilson blocked 3 shots and KANDICE KALASHO also came up big against Brawley with 5 assists and 7 steals. She also made three 3-pointers for the Norsemen.

“This is the most hard fought game our girls have had to play this year,” Silva said of the victory over Brawley. “We kept the pressure on them the whole game and they finally bent in the fourth quarter.”

Valhalla (vs. University City): Danielle Wilson 17 (12 reb, 5 blk, 4 stl), MacKenzie Cartmill 11 (1 reb, 2 ast,1 stl), Kandice Kalasho 6 (2 reb, 3 ast), Alle Mims (6 reb, 1 ast), Chelsea Hale 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Carli Gilstrap (6 reb, 1 ast), Karissa Ferrell (1 reb, 2 stl).

Valhalla (vs. Brawley): Karissa Ferrell 13 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Carli Gilstrap 10 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Danielle Wilson 8 (7 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl), Kandice Kalasho 7 (4 reb, 5 ast, 7stl), MacKenzie Cartmill 7 (1 ast, 2 stl), Chelsea Hale 2 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Alle Mims 2 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Shyla Criger-Phillip (3 reb), Sandy Kagy (2 reb), Jordan DeLucchi (1 ast, 1 stl).

LA COSTA CANYON 62, WEST HILLS 38 – This might have been a close call had La Costa Canyon (7-1) not turned a 5-point game into a rout by outscoring the Wolf Pack 24-0 in the third quarter of Saturday’s (Dec. 18) third-place game of the Kiwanis Tournament.

Nobody reached double scoring digits for West Hills.

“We did not shoot well in the third quarter,” Wolf Pack coach RYAN KINSER acknowledged. “Once again we had too many turnovers. We wanted to force them into a half-court game. Because of our turnovers they were able to run at will in the third quarter and we could not get back into our zone. It became a layup drill. We played them evenly in three of the four quarters.”

West Hills’ point guard TAYLOR AGUIRRE was injured two games ago (ankle strain) and did not play. According to Kinser she should be back for the next game (on Dec. 27).

West Hills: Emily Cole 9, Haley Forsberg 5 (8 reb, 2 stl), Taylor Ingraham 8 (7 reb), Jillian Brown 5 (3 reb, 2 blk), Kylie Cristini 4 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Daniana Ghandour 2 (1 ast), Ja’Ana Diamon 5 (1 stl).

EL CENTRO-CENTRAL 40, EL CAJON VALLEY 33 – The Braves shot a paltry 16 percent (11 for 70) and made only 8 of 19 free throws, yet still came close to pulling off a victory in Saturday’s (Dec. 18) consolation game of the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational.

The game was tied at 7 after one quarter but Central Union took command with a 16-3 run in the second quarter.

“We put up a lot of shots that didn’t fall,” said Braves assistant coach SIG CHABROWSKI. “It was the dreaded 27 turnovers that killed us. We just didn’t play under control.”

Once again CHELSEA BALL was the focus for El Cajon Valley with 12 points, 23 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

“We need to get the ball to Chelsea, and we’re not doing a very good job of it,” Chabrowski added.

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 12 (23 reb, 3 blk, 3 stl), Brittany Swecker 8 (1 reb, 3 stl), Fernandez 7 (9 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl), Harris 4 (6 reb, 1 blk), Miranda Mullens 2 (5 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Danielle Santana (4 reb), Sharde Williams (3 reb).

MULLEN (Colo.) 59, MONTE VISTA 45 – The Monarchs suffered their first loss in seven games at the hands of the Denver based Mustangs in Saturday’s (Dec. 18) first round of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Ariz. No details were reported.

Doesn't Valhalla's Chelsea Hale look familiar in this photo. CLICK to see. (Frank Price, youatplay.com)

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (12-18-10) — When it comes to scouting how to stop the Granite Hills Eagles, it's hard to pigeon-hole one definitive strategy.

"We try to do a lot of everything," noted sophomore SKYLAR WILLIAMS, the leading scorer for the Eagles. "If the opposition likes to play a halfcourt game, we try to be more up-tempo. If they want to run, we'll try to slow things down."

So when visiting Ramona started to hit an array of shots out of the half-court set -- including five straight jumpers by guard Paige Conroy in the game's first nine minutes -- Granite Hills turned up the heat, turning an 8-point deficit into an 8-point lead to stave off the Bulldogs, 51-45, in Friday's (Dec. 17) Granite Hills Holiday Invitational ballgame.

"We were able to run a little bit, press a little bit, and even rebound on them even though Ramona's big girl had a good game," noted Williams. "It was a good test for us."

Considering Ramona already defeated Grossmont, Granite Hills' Grossmont Hills League rival, en route to capturing the season-opening Coronado Thanksgiving Tournament, future prospects for the Eagles seem to keep improving.

"We're still a young team, but with everyone back except SABRINA (JIMENEZ, who now plays for San Diego Christian College), our best is yet to come," Williams added.

After shutting down Conroy, Granite Hills went on a 10-2 run to close the first half to take a 30-24 lead. JESSICA HARRIS then posted 11 of her 15 points in the second half, but the turning point was a passing play between Williams and MADDY SHEERAN.

WIlliams made a nice inside pass across the lane to Sheeran, but when Ramona center Rae Vantol (18 rebounds) shifted across, Sheeran's return pass was even better, leading to a Williams layin while being fouled to build the advantage to 42-35 with 6:12 remaining.

A few minutes later, Sheeran stole the ball and sent a forward pass to a breaking Williams for a layin to seal away the victory. Williams also grabbed 11 boards to post her double-double.

Granite Hills was also nails from the foul line, including a 6-for-6 effort by Harris.

The Eagles advance to Saturday morning's tournament semifinals, hosting Grossmont.

Granite Hills: Skylar Williams 22 (11 reb, 1 ast), Jessica Harris 15 (5 ast, 5 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk), Rae Lockett 5 (5 reb), Keji Kubari 2 (3 reb, 2 blk, 1 ast, 1 stl), Cora Leonard 2 (3 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Cassie Smith 2, Maddy Sheeran 2 (3 reb, 3 stl, 2 ast), Hailey Garner 1 (2 reb), Kayla Kemp (2 reb, 2 stl).

VALHALLA 59, EL CENTRO- CENTRAL 24 – The Norsemen continue their redhot beginning by stuffing the visiting Central Spartans in Friday’s (Dec. 17) Granite Hills Holiday Invitational action at Granite Hills.

DANIELLE WILSON led the charge with 19 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 5 steals for the Norsemen, who outscored the Spartans in all four quarters.

MacKENZIE CARTMILL added 15 points for the Norsemen and KANDICE KALASHO contributed 12 points, 6 assists and 4 steals.

The victory hoisted Valhalla ’s record to 6-2, which is one more win than the Norsemen compiled in 26 games a year ago.

The majority of Cartmill ‘s points came on 3-point shots as she nailed a trio of treys. Half of Kalasho’s points came from above the 3-point arc.

“Danielle was huge in taking the ball to the basket today, where she scored 13 of her 19 points,” said Norsemen coach AL SILVA. “I think basically it was our balanced attack that turned the game into a rout.”

Valhalla: Danielle Wilson 19 (13 reb, 2 ast, 4 blk, 5 stl), MacKenzie Cartmill 15 (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Kandice Kalasho 12 (3 reb, 6 ast, 4 stl), Karissa Ferrell 6 (2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Chelsea Hale 3 (1 reb, 2 ast), Sandy Kagy 2, Jordan DeLucchi (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Carli Gilstrap (6 reb), Alle Mims (2 reb).

MISSION BAY 66, WEST HILLS 45 – At least for the first half West Hills (3-4) was able to match Mission Bay (9-3) stride for stride in Friday’s (Dec. 17) Kiwanis Tournament action at Mira Mesa.

It was a different story in the second half as the Wolf Pack collapsed, scoring only 16 points.

“We were right in the game in that first half,” said Wolf Pack coach RYAN KINSER. “Once again we made too many turnovers in the second half and the game basically turned into a layup drill for Mission Bay.”

JILLIAN BROWN led the Wolf Pack with 12 points and HALEY FORSBERG chipped in with 10.

West Hills will play for third place in the Kiwanis Tournament against La Costa Canyon (6-1) at Serra on Saturday (Dec. 18) at 2 p.m.

West Hills: Jillian Brown 12, Haley Forsberg 10, Taylor Ingraham 8, Arielle Bowers 5, Emily Cole 3, Alexa Evans 3, Kylie Cristini 2, Daniana Ghandour 2.

BRAWLEY 66, EL CAJON VALLEY 23 – Host El Cajon Valley (2-6) fell behind 18-2 to Brawley in Friday’s (Dec. 17) Granite Hills Holiday Invitational contest.

Once again, the Braves’ problem is they are dependent on one player: CHELSEA BALL, who coined her usual double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds.

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 15 (16 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Sharde Williams 4 (10 reb, 1 stl), Brittany Swecker 2 (1 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Miranda Mullens 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Danielle Santana (7 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Joanna de la Cruz (1 reb).

El Cajon Valley's Sharde Williams (32) snares the basketball away from two Grossmont players. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com)

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EL CAJON (12-17-10) — It was not a thing of beauty yet visiting West Hills played well enough to edge host Serra, 50-43, in Thursday’s (Dec. 16) quarterfinals of the Kiwanis Tournament.

The Wolf Pack (3-3) will face Mission Bay in the Friday’s (Dec. 17) semifinal at 8:15 p.m. at Mira Mesa.

EMILY COLE rolled a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolf Pack, which also received a solid 12 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals from TAYLOR INGRAHAM in the victory over the Conquistadors (5-3).

Probably the swing vote for West Hills was the defensive job the Pack did on Serra’s 5-foot-10 Tia Griffiss.

“They are a big, physical team,” said West Hills assistant coach JOHN RUSSO.

“They have a young lady (Griffiss) who is a pretty good post player. We did a good defensive job on her – held her to three points.

“JILLIAN BROWN was outstanding defensively. She did not let them make any passes into the post.”

West Hills led 21-20 at halftime before using a 17-10 run in the third quarter to pull away.

“It was a tight game the whole way,” Russo added. “We had too many turnovers tonight (39).”

West Hills: Emily Cole 13 (11 reb, 2 ast), Taylor Ingraham 12 (14 reb, 4 stl), Taylor Aguirre 8, Kylie Cristini 8 (4 reb, 4 ast), Jillian Brown 6 (7 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Arielle Bowers 3 (2 ast), Alexa Evans (1 reb, 1 ast).

GROSSMONT 53, EL CAJON VALLEY 24 – The Foothillers stormed to a 20-1 first-quarter lead and never looked back in Thursday’s (Dec. 16) Granite Hills Holiday Invitational.

Grossmont (7-1), which leads East County in victories, advances to Saturday’s (Dec. 18) tournament finals at Granite Hills. If the Foothillers beat the Eagles they will play in the championship game Saturday night at 7.

Foothillers coach MEGAN LONG allowed her starters to play only a little more than a quarter and a half.

TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST set Grossmont’s scoring pace with 15 points, while sophomore JAMIE KAUTZMAN came off the bench to lead the team with 10 rebounds.

Kautzman also had 3 blocks – one less than team leader DANIELLE DAHLE.

“I played my second unit more than half the game,” Long said.

Freshman CARLY LOPEZ, the Hillers’ sixth man, nailed 5 of 11 shots from the field for 11 points off the bench.

CHELSEA BALL did it all for El Cajon Valley, connecting on 9 of 17 shots from the floor en route to a game-best 21 points. She was also the top carom collector in the contest with 17 boards.

BRITTANY SWECKER pitched in with 5 assists for the Braves (2-4).

“Grossmont is a much better team than we are,” said Braves coach CARLOS MOSS. “Every game is a true learning experience for our girls. Chelsea had another good game for us. She’s still learning how to play the post.

“I’m a little disappointed because we are not getting the ball to her as much as I would like.”

Grossmont: Teyshonnia Bealer-West 15 (4 reb, 4 stl, 1 ast), Carly Lopez 11 (3 reb, 4 stl), Chloe Cook 8 (1 reb, 1 stl, 3 ast), Nancy Chavez 6 (4 reb, 3 stl), Katarina Schweitzer 5, Danielle Dahle 4 (4 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl, 1 ast), Christa Sawyers 4 (5 reb, 3 stl, 2 ast), Ashley Hargrove 4 (2 reb, 1 stl), Jamie Kautzman (10 reb, 3 blk, 2 ast, 1 stl).

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 21 (17 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Joanna de la Cruz 2 (1 stl), Brittany Swecker 1 (5 ast, 3 stl), Sharde Williams (5 reb, 1 stl), Danielle Santana (3 reb, 1 ast), Miranda Mullens (1 stl).

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EL CAJON (12-16-10) — In terms of making a fast start, the Grossmont Foothillers are playing at a rapid pace.

Coach MEGAN LONG’s squad posted its sixth win in seven decisions Wednesday (Dec. 15) with a 53-38 victory over Brawley in a Granite Hills Holiday Invitational game played at El Cajon Valley High.

TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST set the pace for Grossmont with 21 points and 9 rebounds, while DANIELLE DAHLE tacked on 16 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and five blocks.

Despite committing 22 turnovers, the Foothillers jumped out to an 8-0 lead and finished the game with a 15-6 scoring edge in the final quarter.

“We got 19 steals off our half-court defense,” Long said. “Our problem was once we stole the ball, too often we got going too fast for our own good. We did a better job on transition in the second half. We did what every coach likes to see and that’s finish strong.”

Grossmont: Teyshonnia Bealer-West 21 (9 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), Danielle Dahle 16 (11 reb, 5 stl, 1 ast, 5 blk), Chloe Cook 8 (1 reb, 4 stl, 2 ast), Ashley Hargrove 4 (1 reb, 4 stl, 1 ast), Katarina Schweitzer 2 (2 stl), Carly Lopez 2 (1 stl), Christa Sawyers (1 reb, 2 stl, 2 ast).

WEST HILLS 59, RANCHO BERNARDO 32– The Wolf Pack pumped up its offense – shooting 46 percent from the floor – to rout Rancho Bernardo in Wednesday’s (Dec. 15) opening round of the Kiwanis Tournament at Serra.

HALEY FORSBERG 16 points, EMILY COLE 14 and TAYLOR AGUIRRE 10 helped the Wolf Pack (2-3) outscore the Broncos in all four quarters.

“We finally shot the ball well tonight,” said Wolf Pack coach RYAN KINSER. “We played outstanding defense all game and really rebounded well – it helped to make our offense go.”

Forsberg had the hot shooting hand as she netted 8 of 12 shots from the floor. Cole was 6 of 11, including a pair of 3s. Aguirre was a respectable 4 of 7, including one trey.

“Our two sophomores (Cole and Forsberg) continued to play well, as they have so far this season,” Kinser said. “They combined for 30 points and 12 rebounds.”

West Hills: Haley Forsberg 16 (7 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Emily Cole 14 (5 reb, 1 ast), Taylor Aguirre 10 (1 reb, 5 ast), Jillian Brown 6 (3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Taylor Ingraham 4 (4 reb, 2 ast), Arielle Bowers 3 (1 reb, 2 ast), Katilin McLucas 3 (3 reb, 2 ast), Daniana Ghandour 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Alexa Evans 1 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ja’ane Diamon (4 reb), Kylie Cristini (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

HOOVER 48, EL CAJON VALLEY 28 – CHELSEA BALL of El Cajon Valley has gathered 55 rebounds in her last two starts in the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational.

“Once she learns how to play the post she’s going to be an awesome player,” said Braves assistant coach SIG CHABROWSKI.

Ball also knocked down 17 points for the Braves (2-4).

“Our overall shooting has not gotten much better, and we lost control of the game in the second quarter,” Chabrowski said.

A 12-2 scoring spread in the second period enabled Hoover to open up a 23-10 advantage by halftime. The visiting Cardinals led 41-21 after three quarters.

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 17 (28 reb, 1 ast, 5 blk, 2 stl), Brittany Swecker 5 (3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Miranda Mullens 5 (1 reb, 1 stl), Sharde Williams 1 (8 reb, 1 blk), Danielle Santana (3 reb, 3 stl).

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LA MESA (12-15-10) — The Helix Highlanders balanced their record at 3-3 on Tuesday (Dec. 14) by knocking off visiting Oceanside 48-28 in a non-league game.

The Highlanders blazed to a 28-6 halftime advantage.

Helix coach DEAN BRUNSON utilized a variety of defenses to force an abundance of turnovers.

“We began with full court press, dropped back into a half court press and then in the fourth quarter played man-to-man just to get some work on it,” Brunson said.

It wasn’t the best of shooting nights for the Highlanders as only KIMBERLY SCOTT (12 pointsJ) and JACQUELINE SMITH (11 points) reached double scoring digits.

“Our fast break really picked us up tonight,” added Brunson. “But you have to make shots.”

Helix: Kimberly Scott 12, Jacqueline Smith 11, Faith Leaupepetele 6, Iesha Murray 6, Kristina Scott 5, Chanelle Ward 4, Kai Penn 4.

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EL CAJON (12-14-10) — Grossmont High made it look easy Monday (Dec. 13) as the Foothillers hammered visiting Hoover 61-16 in a Granite Hills Holiday Invitational game.

Grossmont (5-1) has won its last two games by a combined 110-26 score.

TEYSHONNIA BEALER-WEST (19 points, six rebounds and four steals), CHRISTA SAWYERS (13 points) and freshman CARLY LOPEZ (11 points and six steals) led the Hillers past Hoover.

“We got our young players a lot of much needed playing time,” said Foothillers coach MEGAN LONG. “ASHLEY HARGROVE was happy to get back out on the floor tonight. She was very aggressive and needed to be able to play.”

Grossmont: Danielle Dahle 8 (2 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Ashley Hargrove 5 (6 reb, 2 stl), Chloe Cook 3 (1 ast, 3 stl), Nancy Chavez 2, Brianna Phillips (1 reb, 1 stl), Jamie Kautzman (1 reb), Katarina Schweitzer (1 stl), Karina Whitehouse (1 stl).

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SPRING VALLEY (12-12-10) — Mount Miguel head coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL does not select a most valuable player for his Matador Classic.

If he did, the choice would be simple – Mount Miguel senior MYISHIA WATKINS.

With three starters eliminated by fouls with 6:30 remaining in Saturday’s (Dec. 11) Red Division championship game, the 5-foot-4 point guard almost single-handedly helped the Matadors maintain the lead in what became a 48-40 victory over visiting Serra.

“She did a great job of holding the game down those last 6½ minutes,” Sandoval said of Watkins, who finished with 23 points. “Myishia controlled the game.”

Watkins nailed eight field goals – one of them a 3-pointer – and netted six of seven free throws. She also recorded eight steals, three assists and three rebounds.

She had help from an untapped source.

“I can’t say enough about the great defensive job ASHLEY SHEPARD, BRENNA JONES and DEJANAY PAGE gave us coming off the bench,” Sandoval said. “They helped Myishia save the game for us.”

Mount Miguel: Myishia Watkins 23 (3 reb, 3 ast, 8 stl), Danielle Miller 12 (8 reb, 2 blk, 4 stl), Shay Young 8 (9 reb, 1 blk), Ashley Shepard 3 (5 reb), Brenna Jones 2 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Chantel Yell (1 ast, 4 stl), Dejanay Pope (4 reb, 1 stl), Demetria Anderson (1 reb).

VALHALLA 57, CHRISTIAN LIFE 42 — It’s taken the Norsemen seven games to do what it took Valhalla 26 games to do last year. That is, post five victories.

“The girls are pretty happy about our start,” said Valhalla ’s first-year coach AL SILVA after Saturday’s (Dec. 11) Granite Hills Invitational conquest.

Point guard KANDICE KALASHO paced Valhalla to the win with 14 points, while KARISSA FERRELL added 11 and DANIELLE WILSON added 10.

“Kalasho runs the show, makes the decisions and gets the break going,” Silva said. “Ferrell and Wilson did a good job boxing out on the boards.”

Valhalla: Kandice Kalasho 14 (2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Karissa Ferrell 11 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Danielle Wilson 10 (7 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Shyla Criger-Philipp 7 (5 reb, 1 stl), Alle Mims 6 (3 reb), Chelsea Hale 5 (2 reb), MacKenzie Cartmill 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Carli Gilstrap 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Jordan Delucchi (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

Granite Hills' Jessica Harris with the sharp outlet pass. (Photo by Nathan Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

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SPRING VALLEY (12-11-10) — The main thing Monte Vista coach MICHAEL SKIBBE has preached in his five years as coach of the Lady Monarchs is depth.

“That’s our thing – creating a team with depth,” Skibbe said. “And that’s what we have plenty of this year.”

Monte Vista (6-0) overcame a 12-7 first quarter deficit to knock off visiting San Pasqual 43-33 to capture the championship of the 4th annual Lady Monarchs Invitational on Friday night (Dec. 10).

“Our game plan is to run – use all 10 players, like we did tonight,” Skibbe explained. “We don’t depend on one or two girls to carry us, we play all our kids.”

SHAMONIQUE BOYD paced the Monarchs with 9 points and 10 rebounds on the inside.

Point guard ABIGAIL VARGAS, a transfer from Texas, also contributed 9 points – the majority coming on 7 of 8 free throw shooting. She also had 4 steals, as did STEFANIE BANKS.

“We want people to run with us,” Skibbe said. “Our goal is to beat them downcourt before they are able to set up a zone, and we were able to do that against San Pasqual.”

Monte Vista was 18 of 28 from the free throw line.

“We attacked the basket hard and that’s what we always want to do,” Skibbe added.

Monte Vista put the game away with a 14-7 scoring advantage in the final period, handing San Pasqual its first loss in six decisions.

Senior DEANNA BEMBRY has been a four-year starter for the Monarchs. She remembers the early days when Monte Vista struggled.

“It’s so much different than it was when I was a freshman,” said Bembry, who chipped in with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists against San Pasqual. “I’ll tell you one thing – this is the best (team) chemistry we’ve had in my four years here.

“We were down in the first quarter, but were able to clean up our overall game,” she added. “I think the biggest thing was we just started playing harder. We wanted to win this championship in our gym.”

Monte Vista: Shamonique Boyd 9 (10 reb, 2 ast), Abigail Vargas 9 (3 reb, 4 stl), Deanna Bembry 7 (8 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Felicia Porter 6 (3 reb, 3 stl), Shantee Woods 5 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Alex Ross 5 (4 reb), Dionna Mercer 1 (3 reb, 1 ast), Stefanie Banks 1 (1 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Tasha Brown (5 reb), Dee Dee Morrison (1 stl).

EL CAJON VALLEY 40, MAR VISTA 29 – After seeing his team score only seven points in the first game of the season, El Cajon Valley coach CARLOS MOSS has to be pleased that his Braves (2-3) have posted back-to-back victories.

In Friday’s (Dec. 10) Matador Classic game at Mar Vista CHELSEA BALL led the way with 15 points and career-high 27 rebounds.

“ Chelsea is an awesome rebounder,” said Moss. “She wants every ball off the boards.”

El Cajon Valley built a 21-17 halftime lead and then broke the game open with an 11-0 run in the third period.

“We came out from the locker room at the half and decided to put a lot more pressure on Mar Vista,” said Moss. “In the third quarter they did not get one decent look at a good shot.”

BRITNEY SWECKER added 12 points and MIRANDA MULLINS contributed 9 points and 8 rebounds to the Braves’ tally. CHARDE WILLIAMS pulled down 10 rebounds.

“This was our best effort of the season,” said Braves assistant coach SIG CHABROWSKI. “Our shooting is not up to snuff. We need to shoot better to continue to remain competitive.”

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 15 (27 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Britney Swecker 12 (1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Miranda Mullens 9 (8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Danielle Santana (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Joanna de la Cruz 2 (1 reb), Sharde Williams 2 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

GRANITE HILLS 44, BONITA VISTA 42 – Considering Granite Hills made only 9 of 28 free throws, the Eagles have to be pleased that they escaped with a victory in Friday’s (Dec. 10) opening round of the Granite Hills Holiday Invitational.

“We did what we wanted to do, which was get to the free throw line,” said Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER. “But once we got there we did a poor job.”

SKYLAR WILLIAMS and JESSICA HARRIS paced Granite Hills (2-4) with 14 points apiece. Half of Williams’ points came from 3-point range, while Harris landed a trio of triples. However, the duo was 1-for-14 from the free throw line.

“Except for about one minute in the fourth quarter we led all the way,” said Parker.

Granite Hills: Jessica Harris 14, Skylar Williams 14, Keji Kubari 7, Maddy Sherran 3, Hailey Garner 2, Dayna Dunn 2, Cora Leonard 2. (No other stats provided.)

HELIX 66, CRAWFORD 9 – First year Helix coach DEAN BRUNSON believes he may have found some leadership for his Highlanders.

He was talking about the SCOTT twins – KIMBERLY and KRISTINA.

Keeping in mind that the Highlanders were hardly challenged by visiting Crawford in Friday’s (Dec. 10) non-league game, Brunson was able to study his team without having to develop key plays.

“The fact that the Scott twins showed great leadership is a big plus for us,” Brunson said. “That and our ball handling was very good – we passed the ball well. I saw some improvement in what we’re trying to do, which is to play an up-tempo game.”

Helix led the Colts 33-8 at halftime before going on a 26-0 third quarter roll.

Helix: Kimberly Scott 18, Jackie Smith 14, Kristina Scott 14, Chanelle Ward 7, Sarah Meredith 6, Faith Leaupepetele 3, Iesha Murray 2, Rudy Leasau 2. (No other stats provided.)

SERRA 50, STEELE CANYON 42 – Visiting Serra (4-1) outscored Steele Canyon 30-17 in the first and third quarters to knock off the Cougars (1-4) in the final round of the Matador Classic on Friday (Dec. 10).

“Our turnovers were horrendous,” said Steele Canyon assistant coach RODNEY VAN. “We had 12 turnovers in the fourth quarter alone. We are getting tired in the fourth quarter. During critical moments we threw the ball away and they scored off them.

ALI MERLINO and MONIQUE VAN paced the Cougars with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Van also collected 5 rebounds and made 4 steals.

SAMANTHA VERNON led the Cougars on the boards with 6 rebounds.

“The chemistry on our team is not quite there yet,” said coach Van. “They were a little bit more in synch than we are.”

Steele Canyon: Ali Merlino 12 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Monique Van 11 (5 reb, 4 stl, 1 ast), Michelle Beasley 8 (2 ast, 1 stl), Samantha Vernon 6 (6 reb), Gabrielle Beasley 5 (2 reb, 2 ast), Jenesys Hayes (1 stl), Sierra Florez (1 reb), Alyssa Mascari (1 reb).

Valhalla's Karissa Ferrell vs. Montgomery (Photo by Nathan Price, youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

The Aztecs took an 18-4 first quarter lead and widened the margin in each of the ensuing quarters.

“We just got outplayed,” said Norsemen coach AL SILVA, whose team committed 21 turnovers. “They doubled our rebound total and were able to get some good shot opportunities. Their transition game was very effective.

“We got off to a bad start and could never bounce back.”

Valhalla: Danielle Wilson 6 (5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Kandice Kalasho 6 (1 stl), Chelsea Hale 3, Alle Mims 2 (4 reb, 1 blk), Carli Gilstrap 2 (5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Karissa Ferrell 2 (2 reb, 1 stl), Sandy Kagy 1, Jordan DeLucchi (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

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SPRING VALLEY (12-10-10) — Mount Miguel was never in serious trouble against visiting Scripps Ranch in Thursday’s (Dec. 9) Matador Classic semifinal. But coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL was not overly happy with his club’s performance.

“We were playing down to the level of our opponent,” Sandoval said.

That is until the 4th quarter when the Matadors grounded the Falcons 24-4 to breeze to a 68-39 victory.

DANIELLE MILLER led Mount Miguel (4-0) with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while guard MYISHIA WATKINS popped in 20 markers – the majority of her points coming on six 3-pointers. Watkins also had 8 assists. SHAY YOUNG chipped in with 16 rebounds and 7 rebounds.

“I don’t know why it was but our girls didn’t wake up until the last quarter,” Sandoval said. “That’s when they finally clamped down.”

The Falcons made a mini-run to close the deficit to 39-31 in the third quarter, but the Matadors picked it up and turned the game into a blowout.

Mount Miguel advances to Saturday’s (Dec. 11) Red Division championship game of the Matador Classic. Tipoff is 5 p.m.

Mount Miguel: Danielle Miller 26 (11 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl), Myishia Watkins 20 (8 ast, 2 reb, 4 stl), Shay Young 16 (7 reb, 5 stl), Breahna Jones 3 (1 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Chantel Yell 2, (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Dejanay Pope 1 (1 reb).

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SANTEE (12-9-10) — Santana pulled off a healthy set of double-doubles in Wednesday’s (Dec. 8) Vaquero Shootout action as the Sultans topped visiting Valley Center 69-58.

SAMMY WHITE rang up 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while KIM GROSS chalked up 18 points and snagged 13 boards. For good measure, HALEY BURTON turned in a third double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

“I don’t think that’s been done very often,” Sultans coach MARK TIPTON said. “We were obviously pretty strong inside.”

Santana (2-2) jumped out in front 18-9 in the first quarter but could never turn the game into a rout. Much of that was due to the hot-handed shooting of the Jaguars’ Marian Zabinsky, who drilled in 34 points. She sank five three-pointers.

Santana: Sammy White 23 (10 reb, 5 ast), Kim Gross 18 (13 reb, 2 ast), Haley Burton 13 (11 reb, 3 ast, Amanda Grable 7 (4 reb, 2 ast), Marge Pankin 7 (7 reb, 4 stl).

VISTA 49, EL CAPITAN 25 – Poor shooting led to host El Capitan’s demise in Wednesday’s (Dec. 8) Vaquero Shootout finale. The Vaqueros were 5 for 18 from the free throw line and netted only 10 baskets.

“We couldn’t buy a basket,” El Capitan coach FRANK QUINONES said. “In fairness to our girls we are banged up. AMBER (REL-SOLIA) rolled an ankle in practice yesterday and played only about eight minutes tonight.” Six-foot-2 sophomore VANESSA EASTGATE has her hand in a cast.

“I’ve got to hand it to our girls. They still play hard. They are becoming closer and closer together. We teach more than basketball here. We believe in the John Wooden Pyramid of Success. We teach life lessons, building lasting friendships and being loyal to each other.”

Next up for the Vaqueros is the Fort Bragg Holiday Classic in Northern California (Dec. 20-22).

“That’s going to be a major bonding trip for us,” Quinones said. “We are going to fly to San Francisco and see the sights there. We’re taking our team pictures on Alcatraz Island.”

El Capitan: Robyn Logel 8 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Deanna Reed 5 (2 reb, 2 ast), Amber Rel-Solia 5 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Vanessa Sierra 4 (9 reb, 1 stl), Vanessa Carrillo 3 (3 reb, 2 stl), Megan Drennen (2 reb, 2 ast), Bekah Leonard (1 reb, 2 stl).

© East County Sports.com
CLAIREMONT (12-8-10) — Only two players scored for El Cajon Valley in Tuesday’s (Dec. 7) Matador Classic contest, but it was enough to put the Braves in the victory column for the first time in four starts.

With 35 seconds remaining and El Cajon Valley leading 35-33, as the ball was inbounded by Clairemont, Braves coach CARLOS MOSS – having noticed he had six players on the floor– was urgently trying to call timeout.

It didn’t work. Instead the coach was issued a technical and Clairemont hit both free throws to tie it at 35.

As Clairemont brought the ball inbound, El Cajon Valley’s MIRANDA MULLINS made a steal and worked the ball down court, passing it to CHELSEA BALL with six seconds remaining. Balls’ shot hit the mark from the right baseline, and she was fouled on the play. She sank one more point to end the game.

“This was a big morale booster – to go on the road and get a win is really important,” said El Cajon Valley coach Moss “We handled the ball well against their defense and did a good job of attacking.”

The score went back and forth with every basket in the fourth quarter.

El Cajon Valley: Chelsea Ball 21 (22 reb), Britney Swecker 17, Miranda Mullens (1 stl).

GRANITE HILLS 51, MORSE 46 – Prolific scoring quarters has not been a strength for the Granite Hills Eagles this season.

That is, until Tuesday’s (Dec. 7) Matador Classic encounter against visiting Morse, when the Eagles erased a 14-13 first quarter deficit by outscoring the Tigers 23-11 in the second period.

Even after building a 36-25 halftime lead it was not a safe situation for the Eagles, who saw their lead evaporate in the third quarter.

MADDY SHERRAN scored a career-high 18 points. SKYLAR WILLIAMS added 13 and JESSICA HARRIS popped in 12 as the Eagles managed to make a strong fourth quarter stand to pull out their first victory in five starts.

“We finally got off the schneid,” said Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER. “We had good pressure on them in the first half and then got a little lax on defense in the third quarter.”

Parker praised the work of CASSIE SMITH.

“Her name doesn’t show up in the stats, but she gives us a lot of positive minutes,” Parker said. “We’re gonna need that to be successful this season.”

Granite Hills nailed five 3-pointers in the contest, including two each by Sherran and Harris.

Granite Hills: Maddy Sherran 18, Skylar Williams 13, Jessica Harris 12, Hailey Garner 5, Keji Kubari 2, Rae Lockett 1.

MT. CARMEL 56, HELIX 44 – Facing high-powered Mt. Carmel the Highlanders found themselves playing catch-up from the get-go in Tuesday’s (Dec. 7) Vaquero Shootout in North County.

KIMBERLY SCOTT scored 12 points and IESHE MURRAY scored 10 for the Highlanders, who have played a challenging schedule to date.

One of Helix’s shortcomings was the ability to hit the longball. KRISTINA SCOTT accounted for the Highlanders’ only 3-pointer.

Mt. Carmel (2-0) outscored the Highlanders (1-3) in all four quarters.

Helix: Kimberly Scott 12, Iesha Murray 10, Kristina Scott 9, Faith Leaupepetele 6, Rudy Leasau 4, Sarah Meredith 3

OUR LADY OF PEACE 65, STEELE CANYON 30 – It didn’t take long for host Steele Canyon to figure out why Our Lady of Peace is ranked in the Top 10.

In Tuesday’s (Dec. 7) Matador Classic contest the Pilots built a 38-14 lead then it was lights out for the Cougars (1-3). Nobody reached double scoring digits for Steele Canyon.

Steele Canyon: Michelle Beasley 9 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Gabrielle Beasley 8 (4 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Ali Merlino 6, Monique Van 2 (4 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Jenesys Hayes 2 (1 reb), Samantha Vernon 3 (3 reb, 1 stl), Alyssa Mascari (1 reb, 1 stl).

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SANTEE (12-7-10) — Senior KIM GROSS muscled in a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds on Monday (Dec. 6) helping Santana skip past visiting Orange Glen, 61-50, in a Vaquero Shootout contest.

“It felt really good to win because we were 0-2,” Gross said. “We should be pretty good. We just need to find the right team chemistry.”

A 6-foot-1 center, Gross was 3-for-3 from the floor and 6 for 8 from the free throw stripe. Nine of her rebounds came off the defensive glass.

“I get most of my points from free throws,” Gross said. “I used to be pretty bad so I practiced a lot. I get fouled a lot. We are not a real offensive scoring team so we have to make up for it with tough defense.”

AMANDA GRABLE paced the Sultans with 13 points.

Santana sprinted to a 20-8 first-quarter advantage and held on.

Santana: Amanda Grable 13 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kim Gross (12 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Margie Pankin 10 (5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Sydney Blackburn 8 (4 reb, 2 ast), Haley Burton 8 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Sammy White 6 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Kelsey Conley 4 (1 reb), Taylor Barry (3 reb, 1 ast), Bekka Martinez (1 reb, 1 stl), Alex Breidt (1 reb).

MISSION BAY 72, GRANITE HILLS 51 – Nobody can accuse the Granite Hills Eagles of playing a basket full of cupcakes in their preseason activity.

For the second time in three days, the Eagles were roughed up by a Top 10 foe, falling to host Mission Bay in a Matador Classic encounter.

“Defensively, we had a tough night,” admitted Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER. “We gave them a lot of transition points. We were very sluggish in the second quarter.”

Indeed. Mission Bay used a 21-3 scoring run to turn a two-point edge into a 32-12 halftime lead.

“It’s very difficult to come back from a 20 point deficit,” Parker said.

The Eagles (0-4) made a comeback bid by outscoring the Buccaneers 24-20 in the third period but never seriously threatened.

Maddy Sherran had 10 of her 13 points and Jessica Harris dropped in 8 of her 11 in that third quarter.

Granite Hills: Maddy Sherran 13, Skylar Williams 12, Jessica Harris 11, Rae Lockett 8, Hailey Garner 3. (No stats available).

SAN DIEGO 72, STEELE CANYON 26 – Visiting Steele Canyon was completely overmatched by arguably the best girls basketball team in the San Diego CIF on Saturday (Dec. 5) in a Matador Classic blowout at San Diego High.

The CIF-SDS Division I defending champion Cavers led 23-3 after one quarter and 44-11 by halftime.

“San Diego came at us with a relentless full court press, and we couldn’t handle it,” said Cougars assistant coach RODNEY VAN. “They were too big, too aggressive and too fast.”

Steele Canyon: Samantha Vernon 5 (6 reb, 2 blk), Gabrielle Beasley 5 (1 reb, 1 stl), Ali Merlino 5 (1 reb), Monique Van 4 (8 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Michelle Beasley 4 (1 ast), Sierra Florez (1 reb).

MORSE 48, EL CAJON VALLEY 22 – The host Braves dropped their second Matador Classic game in as many starts on Saturday (Dec. 5). No other information was available.

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IMPERIAL (12-3-10) — KANDICE KALASHO scored a career-high 22 points – more than half coming on four 3-pointers – propelling visiting Valhalla to a 60-26 season-opening Imperial Valley Invitational victory over Julian on Thursday (Dec. 2) at Imperial High.

A 5-foot-3 guard, Kalasho also grabbed 9 rebounds, dished 4 assists and made 8 steals as the Norsemen presented new head coach AL SILVA with his first victory.

Guard JORDAN DeLUCCHI pitched in with 12 points for the Norsemen, while 5-10 forward CARLI GILSTRAP produced a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“I was a little apprehensive before the game – I didn’t know what to expect,” said Silva. “I’m a little surprised at the way we started out. I wasn’t expecting us to be this strong this early. The girls were really glad to get to play another team. It was a good win for us. We have been a little down the last three years and it was nice to get off to a good start.”

Valhalla: Kandice Kalasho 22 (9 reb, 4 ast, 8 stl), Jordan DeLucchi 12 (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Carli Gilstrap 10 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl), Danielle Wilson 3 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl), Shyla Criger-Philipp 3 (2 reb, 1 ast), Karissa Ferrell 2 (1 reb), MacKenzie Cartmill (2 stl).

SAN DIEGO 77, GRANITE HILLS 45 – If the San Diego Cavers aren’t the best team in the San Diego CIF they have to be at least No. 2. That issue will be determined at a later date.

As far as the visiting Granite Hills Eagles (0-3) were concerned in Thursday’s (Dec. 2) Matador Classic contest at San Diego, the Cavers were plenty good.

San Diego took a 22-14 first quarter lead and proceeded to extend that advantage during each of the final three quarters.

JESSICA HARRIS scored 21 points, including nailing a trio of 3-pointers and all four of her free throw attempts.

SKYLAR WILLIAMS had her best game thus far, dropping in 17 points, including one 3-pointer.

“They were completely on their game tonight and we were not,” Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER said. “We need to get more scoring out of our bench.”

Granite Hills: Jessica Harris 21, Skylar Williams 17, Rae Luckett 4, Cassie Smith 2, Maddy Sherran 1.

LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY 56, WEST HILLS 18 – Host La Jolla Country Day continues to prove that it’s one of the best teams in the San Diego CIF – especially on the defensive end.

In Thursday’s (Dec. 2) second round of the LJCD Sweet Sixteen Invitational the Torreys put the squeeze on the Wolf Pack, opening up a 36-4 first half lead.

By the close of the third quarter the Torreys were coasting 54-10.

West Hills (1-1) committed 31 turnovers against LJCD, which has outscored its first two opponents 144-30.

“We have a very young team and we made a lot of very young mistakes,” said Wolf Pack coach RYAN KINSER. “(LJCD) is a very good team. As of right now, we are not yet a good team.”

LJCD lanced Lincoln 88-12 in its season opener.

“I knew we could play pretty good defense against (the Torreys),” said Kinser. “Unfortunately we did a poor job of blocking out and they out-rebounded us. Their second-chance points and transition offense were too much for us to overcome. I told my players before the game that we could win the game if we rebounded, shot well and handled the ball well. We did not handle the ball well at all.”

West Hills: Taylor Aguirre 8 (2 reb, 1 ast), Emily Cole 4 (1 reb), Haley Forsberg 3 (4 reb, 1 stl), Taylor Ingraham 2 (4 reb), Arielle Bowers 1 (1 reb), Jillian Brown (1 reb, 2 stl), Kylie Cristini (1 reb), Alexa Evans (1 reb).

CARLSBAD 48, SANTANA 31 – The visiting Sultans took a 10-2 lead in the first quarter of Thursday’s (Dec. 2) Vaquero Shootout contest at Carlsbad and trailed by only one at halftime.

The second half belonged to the Lancers, who claimed a 34-18 scoring advantage.

Santana: No stats available.

© East County Sports.com
LA JOLLA (12-2-10) — With a lineup dominated by new faces, West Hills proved that it can still win a key basketball game as the Wolf Pack edged Riverside Perris, 44-41, in Wednesday’s (Dec. 1) opening round of the La Jolla Country Day Invitational.

The Pack stormed to an 11-2 first quarter lead and never let Perris overtake them.

“Obviously we played great defense,” said West Hills coach RYAN KINSER. “I’m happy with the way we played in the second half. They made some runs but we did a good job of answering back for such a young team.”

KYLIE CRISTINI, a 5-foot-4 sophomore guard, led a balanced Wolf Pack attack with 8 points, which included hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

Six-foot sophomore HALEY FORSBERG contributed 6 points and 9 rebounds for the Pack, which had nine players chip in to the scoring.

Kinser noted that his roster includes four juniors, six sophomores and one senior.

“We survived 23 turnovers but that’s just part of the growing pains we’re going through,” Kinser said.

West Hills will face host La Jolla Country Day, the No. 1 ranked team in the county, Thursday (Dec. 2) at 4:30.

West Hills: Kylie Cristini 8, Haley Forsberg 6 (9 reb), Emily Cole 6, Arielle Bowers 6, Jillian Brown 6, Katilin McLucas 4, Taylor Aguirre 3, Taylor Ingraham 3, Ja’ane Diamon 2.

MOUNT MIGUEL 67, MORSE 35 – The Matadors’ pressure defense forced 40 turnovers and created 29 steals as Mount Miguel mauled Morse in Wednesday’s (Dec. 1) second round of the Matador Classic in Spring Valley.

SHAY YOUNG paced the Matadors with 23 points, while DANIELLE MILLER added 22. Both players had 7 rebounds, while Young had 3 blocks.

Free throw shooting has never been a strength for the Matadors, but it was on this night as Miller was 14 of 14 and Young 5 of 5 at the charity stripe.

MYISHIA WATKINS added 11 points, 8 assists, 8 steals and the 5-foot-4 point guard also blocked a shot.

CHARITY LYONS also had 8 steals for the ball-hawking Matadors, who led 56-22 after three quarters.

“We have to work on our game so we pressed about 2 ½ quarters,” said Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL. “Once we got up by 30 we took it off.”

Mount Miguel: Shay Young 23 (7 reb, 3 blk, 3 stl, 1 ast), Danielle Miller 22 (7 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl), Myishia Watkins 11 (8 ast, 8 stl, 1 reb, 1 blk), Charity Lyons 6 (3 rec, 8 stl, 1 ast), Chantel Yell 5 (5 stl, 1 reb, 2 ast), Breahna Jones (4 reb, 1 stl), Dejanay Pope (3 reb).

VALLEY CENTER 46, EL CAPITAN 38 – Host El Capitan fell behind the visiting Jaguars 14-3 in the first quarter and never recovered in Wednesday’s (Dec. 1)

Vaquero Shootout in Lakeside.

“We were down 10-0 before we knew it but still fought back to get as close as 5,” said Vaqueros coach FRANK QUINONES. “I know it was a physical game, but we missed 38 shots under the basket, and I don’t think that’s possible without being fouled. But the officials just let it go.”

Even when the Vaqueros were fouled, however, they connected on only 8 of 23 free throws.

AMBER REL-SOLIA and MEGAN DRENNEN paced the Vaqueros with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

“Overall I’m extremely proud of these girls,” Quinones continued. “We’re competing and we’ve been in each of our first two games.”

El Capitan: Amber Rel-Solia 14 (5 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), Megan Drennen 13 (6 reb, 3 ast), Emily Sutton 8 (6 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl), Deanna Reed 2 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Vanessa Sierra 1 (1 reb), Vanessa Carrillo (1 stl), Robyn Logel (2 reb), Bekah Leonard (1 reb).

Yvonte Neal, Mount Miguel 2009-10 East County Player of the Year

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (3-18-10) — Ten-time league champion Mount Miguel placed three players on the annual East County Sports.com All-East County™ Girls Basketball team.

Matadors senior guard YVONTE NEAL was selected East County Girls Basketball Player of the Year. The 5-foot-8 Neal averaged 14.8 points and 3.5 steals per game. She was also a 70.6 percent free throw shooter, hitting 72 of 102 attempts.

Neal’s value to the Matadors went well beyond her statistics in that she is a solid floor leader and plays bigger than her size. She will attend Cal State-Fullerton on a basketball scholarship next season.

The Matadors also placed senior NICOLE FOUNTAIN and DANIELLE MILLER on the first team. Fountain averaged 3.7 assists and 3.7 in steals, along with averaging 9.2 points per game. Miller, a sophomore, averaged 13.1 points per game and scored 64 points in four playoff games. She led East County with 4.3 steals per game.

Seniors SABRINA JIMENEZ of Granite Hills and MARILYN NADERHOFF of West Hills earned first-team berths for the second season in a row. Jimenez topped East County in scoring (17.2 ppg) and assists (4.4 pg). Naderhoff, East County’s top shooter from the field (110-for-212,.519 pct), has a college scholarship to Cal State Bakersfield.

East County’s Unsung Hero was 5-4 junior guard GABRIELLE BEASLEY of Steele Canyon.

Coach of the Year for East County girls basketball went to Granite Hills’ JERRY PARKER. The 4th-year head coach led the youthful Eagles to a 25-7 record and reached the San Diego CIF Division I semifinals.

2009-10 ALL-EAST COUNTY™ TEAM (Selected by ECS.com staff)
FIRST TEAM Pos   Player, School Hgt, Year G F G G F   Yvonte Neal, Mount Miguel Sabrina Jimenez, Granite Hills Nicole Fountain, Mount Miguel Marilyn Naderhoff, West Hills Danielle Miller, Mount Miguel 5-8, 12 5-8, 12 5-9, 12 5-8, 12 5-8, 11	Player of the Year YVONTE NEAL, Mount Miguel Rookie of the Year SHAMONIQUE BOYD, Monte Vista Unsung Hero Award GABRIELLE BEASLEY, Steele Canyon Coach of the Year JERRY PARKER, Granite Hills
SECOND TEAM Pos   Player, School Hgt, Year F F F G G   Sherika Miller, West Hills Deanna Bembry, Monte Vista Kim Clark, West Hills Myishia Watkins, Mount Miguel Alyssa Padberg, Santana 5-11, 12 5-9, 11 5-9, 12 5-4, 11 5-9, 12	THIRD TEAM Pos   Player, School Hgt, Year F C G G F   Shay Young, Mount Miguel Janvier Barbarin, Steele Canyon Mariah Bennett, West Hills Hazel Doe, El Cajon Valley Amber Rel-Solia, El Capitan 5-11, 10 5-11, 12 5-4, 10 5-3, 12 5-10, 11