CIF STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS – South Regional, Semifinals

Top-seed Santa Barbara ends Matadors' season

© East County Sports.com
SANTA BARBARA (3-19-14) –– No question, the long bus ride north to Santa Barbara can’t be blamed on the result but it was hardly a positive influence.

Head coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL said, “We could sit here and blame having to travel 4½ hours for our play, but that’s not the case.

“You can’t blame a gang of missed layups on anybody but yourselves, and we had way too many.”

Despite their sloppy play, the Matadors (27-6) trailed by only 3 points early in the fourth quarter, but never drew closer as they fell to top-seeded Santa Barbara, 60-50, in Tuesday’s (Mar. 18) Southern California Regional semifinals.

“It’s disappointing,” Sandoval said. “We had two key games that would have put us in the championship, and we lost them both.”

Sandoval was referring to the San Diego Section Open Division semifinal loss to Mater Dei Catholic and last night’s elimination at the hands of Santa Barbara's Dons (29-5).

Mount Miguel trailed 18-17 after one quarter and 30-26 by halftime. It was a game of catch-up after that and the Matadors never caught up.

Mount Miguel: Deijah Blanks 15 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Kamree Harrison 15 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Zaria Branch 10 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Dejanay Pope 8 (9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Brooklyn Miller 2 (3 reb), Satera Bates (4 reb), Rozlyn Pierce (1 reb).

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (3-15-14) — The Mount Miguel Matadors survived a physical tug-of-war against visiting Selma in Saturday’s (Mar. 15) SoCal Regional Division III quarterfinals.

During pregame warm-ups it appeared that the Matadors, albeit not giants themselves, held a distinct size advantage over the Sequoia-Central League runner-ups. But by the time all was said and done it was a toe-to-toe battle won by the Matadors, 68-61,

To hear Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL say it, it was a “minor miracle” for his Matadors.

Sandoval blamed the officials for a “poorly called game.” He said, “Officials are not supposed to be noticed in a state playoff game, but these guys were trying to dominate us.”

The Bears were permitted 45 free throw shots, of which they converted 28.

Mount Miguel, by comparison, made 14 of 23 from the charity stripe.

“You don’t have to be a math major to figure out the difference there,” said
Sandoval.

The Matadors (27-5), who will advance to the SoCal semifinals in Santa Barbara on Tuesday (Mar. 18 to face the top-seeded team, nailed 6 three-pointers against Selma .

KAMREE HARRISON hit a trio of triples and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line while finishing with 15 points.

Steady DEIJAH BLANKS netted a game high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Matadors against the Bears (27-6).

Blanks pointed to a 16-2 scoring run by the Matadors in the first half that erased a 10-3 deficit.

ZARIA BRANCH supplied the firepower as she turned 4 consecutive steals into baskets in the 2nd quarter.

“You never know who’s going to supply the burst that we need to win the game,” said Blanks. “It’s always somebody different.

“I’ve got to give them their props, because they had good ball movement and kept the pressure on.”

DEJANAY POPE won the battle of the boards despite being knocked on her face late in the game. She scored only 4 points but collected 11 rebounds.

“Once we got the lead,” Pope said, “I knew we weren’t going to give it up.”

And so they didn’t.

Mount Miguel: Deijah Blanks 24 (10 reb, 2 ast), Kamree Harrison 15 (3 reb, 2 ast), Zaria Branch 10 (5 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Brooklyn Miller 8 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Dejanay Pope 4 (11 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Rozlyn Pierce 4 (3 reb, stl), Satera Bates 3 (1 ast).

CIF STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS – South Regional, First Round

Matadors pull away late to master the Mustangs

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (3-13-14) — It wasn’t Mount Migue Hifgl’s most colorful performance but Wednesday’s (Mar. 12) victory over Yorba Linda, 52-45, had enough glitter to carry the Matadors into the quarterfinals of the Southern California Regional playoffs.

DEIJAH BLANKS hammered down 22 points, and KAMREE HARRISON hit four 3s for 12 points as the Matadors eliminated the Mustangs (11-16). DEJANAY POPE dominated the boards with 12 rebounds.

“At this point in the season it’s about win, survive and advance,” said Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL. “It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you do it.”

The Matadors could never pull away from the Mustangs as they were scrambling most of the night.

Mount Miguel led only by 39-37 after three quarters. Even so, Sandoval said he “wasn’t worried.”

“It was an ugly win, no question about that,” he said. “But it was good enough to vault into Saturday’s (Mar. 15) semifinals (at 6 p.m. at Mount Miguel ).”

The Matadors (26-5) will be facing the Selma Bears, who boast a 28-8 record.

Selma upset Englewood 58-53 in Wednesday’s first round of the SoCal Playoffs.

Mount Miguel: Deijah Blanks 22 (5 reb, 4 ast, 6 stl), Kamree Harrison 12 (2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Zaria Branch 9 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl), Dejanay Pope 5 (12 reb, 3 stl), Satera Bates 3 (1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), Brooklyn Miller 1 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl).

Matadors in, Highlanders out explained

By Nick Pellegrino
© East County Sports.com
BALBOA PARK (3-9-14) — Helix High captured a CIF San Diego Section championship, yet were not invited to the state championships. Meanwhile, Mount Miguel only reached the semifinals of the new Open Division, yet the Matadors were awarded with a berth to the state tournament, hosting a first-round contest against Yorba Linda on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

ECS.com received several inquires on why this occured. With so many rule changes due to the Open Division format, the editors of this publication went right to the source and asked CIF San Diego Section commissioner Jerry Schniepp to explain it for us.

Schniepp's comments:

“Our bylaws state that teams in the Open Division may qualify for the state playoffs, in their respective enrollment divisions. So although we set our divisions in San Diego by competitive ranking, we still keep enrollment divisions for state playoff selection.”

"Mount Miguel's enrollment division is DIII. Their power ranking was higher than any team that played in our DIII, so they were selected to advance to the state playoffs.”

“Helix played in our DII. Three teams in the Open division, La Costa Canyon, Serra and Poway all qualify, by enrollment, in DII. All three teams had higher power rankings than Helix, so they were selected to advance over Helix."

“We created the competitive divisions with the premise that we would do what is best for the San Diego Section playoffs. Our Board determined that what is best for teams in San Diego , was competitive divisions. This meant that opportunities to win San Diego Section championships would be possible for more teams, because the highest ranked teams over the past five years moved into one division -- the Open Division. It also meant that the same teams benefitting from these new opportunities, may not advance beyond the San Diego Section playoffs."

The Helix Highlanders captured the CIF Division 3 championship thanks to rebounding and defense in swamping San Marcos, 57-45, at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday. (Photo by Frank Quinones)

Helix' display of defense, courtesy of Camryn Owens (top) and Destini Anderson (below) (Photos by Frank Quinones)

By Andrew Smith
© East County Sports.com
ALCALA PARK (3-9-14) — As a freshman, BRIAJUNAE SHEPHARD led Mission Bay to a San Diego Section Division III title at the University of San Diego's Jenny Craig Pavilion. Fast forward two years and she was back to her old antics only this time she donned a Helix uniform.

In the first half of Saturday's (Mar. 8) San Diego Division II championship game the Highlanders struggled with their shooting against an athletic San Marcos team. After halftime though Shepard took the game over, scoring 13 of her game-high 20 points, leading the Scotties to a 57-45 victory.

“I had to for us to win,” she said afterward. “I didn't play a great first half, so I knew I had to play better for us to get the win.”

There were seven ties and six lead changes in the first half. Helix held a 26-24 edge at the half and the game was knotted at 31 midway through the third quarter when they went on an 11-0 run with Shepard accounting for seven of those markers.

“She really rallied the team around her,” said Helix head coach PATRICK TABOR. “As soon as she got on this team she took over the leadership role. Great players are born...they're not made.”

Defensively, the Highlanders held the Knights to twenty-two percent from the floor and out-rebounded them 63-46. DESTINI ANDERSON collected 10 rebounds to go with her 9 points and IRMA EALY cleaned a game-high 15 boards.

“Winning this one means the whole world to me,” said Ealy, who was also on that 2012 Mission Bay team with Shepard. “With all the freshman we have on our team no one said we could do it, but with our team chemistry I knew we could make it happen.”

Forget the fact that there were a combined 97 shots missed in the game. The bigger gym is sometimes overwhelming when you're used to the smaller high school gym environment, but the Scotties made their shots the most when they counted.

“I'm so proud of my girls,” boasted Tabor. “Having six freshman on the team you never know what you're gonna get day-to-day, but tonight they all stepped it up.”

Helix: Briajunae Shephard 20 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Destini Anderson 9 (10 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Shirah Hancock 9 (9 reb, 2 ast), Irma Ealy 8 (15 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Camyrn Owens 7 (4 reb, 4 ast), Danielle Simmons 2 (6 reb, 2 ast), Raeshondra Dike’ 2 (3 reb), Taliah Hooker (2 reb).

CalHi Sports State Rankings Division III (thru Mar. 6) Rk School  WL  Last 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.   Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) Miramonte (Orinda) Enterprise (Redding) Sacred Heart Cathedral (S.F.) Modesto Christian (Modesto) Santa Barbara Lakeside (Lake Elsinore) Florin (Sacramento) Vanden (Fairfield) Mount Miguel (Spring Valley) 23-4 27-1 25-2 21-6 22-8 24-5 22-6 21-9 23-5 25-5    1 2 3 5 6 7 8 — 5 10 DIVISION 5 Ladies of Liberty All-East County final goes to Liberty Charter © East County Sports.com CARLSBAD (3-7-14) — Liberty Charter High poured home 29 points in the second quarter to mount a 38-24 halftime lead , rolling to the CIF San Diego Section Div.  5 championship after skating past Foothills Christian, 64-39, in the all-East County final held Thursday (Mar. 6) at Sage Creek High gymnasium. Lions senior center Savannah Whitehurst led both sides with 25 points and 19 rebounds, while senior Katie Collins, who plays at the high post, added 23 points for the school's first section crown in any sport.

Roar, Lions, Roar Liberty Charter – Front row (l-r): Connie Pasha, Savanah Battah, Anna Bray, Sarah Bennett; Back row: assistant coach Alexis Silva, Sherry Conner, Savannah Whitehurst, Katie Collins, Kaylan Freeze, head coach Al Silva. Included were three straight triples by Collins in the big second-quarter run for 5th-seeded Liberty (19-7), which outsed top-seed Pacific Ridge in the semifinals. For Foothills Christian (16-6), Christina Baksa paced the Knights with 13 points. The Knights, seeded second, downed Mountain Empire and Guajome Park to reach the finale. — Nick Pellegrino

Helix guard Shirah Hancock drives to the basket against University City in an easy 55-41 win. (Photo by David Pugh)

By Nick Pellegrino
© East County Sports.com
LA MESA (3-6-14) — Expectations have certainly changed at Helix High.

Scotties forward Irma Ealy hits a jumper vs. University City. (Photo by David Pugh)

Building a huge first-half cushion with a suffocating defense, the Scotties earned a shot to earn first CIF San Diego Section championship since 1980 (under current boys coach JOHN SINGER) after taking down University City, 55-41, in Wednesday's (Mar. 5) Division 2 semifinals at Caledonia Gymnasium.

Prospects for Helix looked bright right from the opening tip. But tell that to the players, even though they mounted huge margins of 15-3 after one quarter and 30-13 by halftime.

"We played a sloppy first half, but we turned it around after that," said guard DESTINI ANDERSON, who scored all of her nine points after the intermission. "We can do better, and we have to if we want to win the championship.”

The trophy battle is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday (Mar. 8) at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion. The third-seeded Scotties (26-7) will meet fifth-seeded San Marcos , which gained a clear ride to the final after top-seeded Ramona was eliminated by Santa Fe Christian, which then lost to the Knights, 66-50, in the other semifinal.

Whatever the so-called "problems" of the first half were nowhere in sight when the teams returned to the court.

SHIRAH HANCOCK immediately drilled a 3-point shot, then Anderson tallied five straight points on a layin, then a 3-point play when fouled on a putback after gaining inside position for an offensive rebound.

And when BRIAJUNAE SHEPARD stole the ball for a breakaway layin, Helix pushed the advantage to 44-23.

The dominance in the paint continued in the fourth quarter.

CAMRYN OWENS was fouled on a follow-shot off an offensive rebound. She made the first four shots, but missed the second, but that was okay. The ensuing miss was knocked out of bounds and the ball awarded to Helix, with Owens making a quick touch pass to Shepard for yet another layin and a 26-point lead at 51-25.

The Centurions (19-11) failed to help themselves, missing all but one of their first seven foul shots on the second half. A late 16-4 run by the Cents to close the contest was largely cosmetic against the Helix reserves, but not without the defense making one last stand on a pair of dramatic blocked shots by Owens.

The Highlanders pounded the boards as IRMA EALY collected 14 caroms and Anderson scraped 12 of the glass.

For UC, Brynne Williams led the Cents with 15 points.

Helix: Briajunae Shepard 17 (3 ast, 3 stl), Destini Anderson 12 (12 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Shirah Hancock 9 (6 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Irma Ealy 6 (14 reb, 1 blk), Raeshondra Dike’ 4 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Camryn Owens 3 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Danielle Simmons 3 (3 reb, 1 stl), Asia Duncan (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Chyna Williams (1 reb), Taliah Hooker (1 reb, 1 blk), Ashley Smith (1 stl), Kayla Napier (1 stl).

Highlanders guard Briajunae Shepard drives past University City's Brynne Williams. (Photo by David Pugh)

By Nick Pellegrino
© East County Sports.com
TALMADGE (3-5-14) — The calendar reserving Hoover High's historic gymnasium for playoff basketball is annually set in stone. But for the boys squad.

How six short months can transform a program's fortunes.

When Cardinals boys coach Ollie Goulston parted ways with school administrators, the ballclub suffered. So it was the Hoover girls team which took center court in a rare postseason home game Tuesday (Mar. 4), posting perhaps their biggest win ever.

Junior guard Hope Ward nailed a key 3-point shot to open the fourth quarter, stopping an impressive rally by visiting El Capitan and lifting the Cards to a 45-37 triumph in the CIF Division IV semifinals.

Hoover, fielding perhaps its best ballclub since the late 1970s, will play for its first-ever CIF San Diego Section championship against the winner of Wednesday's re-scheduled contest between Imperial and El Centro-Central.

Both the Cards and Vaqueros secured a pair of surprising victories in a division more suited to the NIT tournament rather than an NCAA championship. But tell that to the players who demonstrated that they all had something to prove.

"It came down to our determination and focus," said Ward. "And when we made some shots, it helped our confidence, which are the three things we always strive for."

Hoover pulled away to take a 10-point lead in the third quarter before the Vaqueros rallied to make it exciting.

Junior guard KASSIDY KYGAR again proved to be the focal point in the weave offense instituted by co-head coaches ROSS FURROW and RICK WILKERSON. Kygar fed the ball inside to VALERIA GARAY for a wide-open layin, then Kygar scored on a driving layin to cap a 10-2 run to trim the deficit to 33-29.

However, Ward stepped into a 3-point shot to open the final quarter, then a steal by Analeigh Fulgham led to a fast-break layin by Raina FullyLove. Hoover also converted 5-of-7 foul shots to seal its first berth to a section title game.

"Our goal was to make the playoffs," said Fulgham. "But once we got in, we said, 'why not?' and have fought hard to win."

For their efforts, they were rewarded by cutting down the nets after the contest, just like the Hoover boys have done for a decade.

El Capitan also benefitted from its deep playoff run, including a pair of road victories. The 9th-seeded Vaqueros ran past No. 8 San Pasqual Academy, then bumped off top-seeded Calvin Christian in the quarterfinals.

"Once we were able to push the ball down court, we were able to run our offense to get back into the game," noted Kygar, who paced the Vaqueros with 11 points. "It's so encouraging to see us play so well, which will make us stronger next season."

VALERIE RENFROW grabbed 10 caroms to lead the Vaqueros on the boards.

El Capitan: Kassidy Kygar 11 (3 reb, 2 ast, 7 stl), Cierra Cutler 8 (2 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Valeria Garay 7 (5 reb, 1 ast), Marie Cook 6 (3 reb), Valerie Renfrow 5 (10 reb,, 2 ast, 1 stl), Adalida Moore (2 reb), MacKenzie Mead (1 ast).

UNIVERSITY CITY at HELIX — This CIF Division II semifinal was postponed 24 hours and will be held Wednesday (Mar. 5) at 7 p.m. at Helix' Calendonia Gymnasium.

Since the Centurions needed to play their second-round contest in Brawley in Monday, CIF officials gave UC (and the winners of five other make-up games originally postponed due to weather and travel concerns) an extra day to prepare rather than playing on consecutive nights.

Helix forward Danielle Simmons with the putback basket against Otay Ranch. (Photo by Ruth Mims) ADDITIONALPHOTOS HERE

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
ESCONDIDO (3-1-14) — No. 9 seed El Capitan High posted what was perhaps one of the biggest San Diego Section Division IV quarterfinal upsets of this year’s tournament with its second playoff win in a row, knocking off host and top-seeded Calvin Christian, 48-31, in Friday’s (Feb. 28) contest.

“The girls started playing hard on defense, not letting them get to the basket,” said Vaqueros co-head coach RICK WILKERSON. “In the 2nd half we started moving our feet on defense, stopping their dribble penetration and got on the defensive boards.

El Capitan was 4-4 early in the season and then all of a sudden dropped nine straight, and it appeared that the Vaqueros would fold and stumble to the finish line.

But that did not turn out to be the case as El Capitan busted out of the lengthy losing streak, and finished 4-4 in the Grossmont Valley League.

Calvin Christian led 23-9 at halftime. Then the Vaqueros put it into overdrive to score 22 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth.

“In the 2nd half tonight we started making shots that we had been missing,” Wilkerson added.

“VALERIE RENFROW had an outstanding game, pulling down 11 rebounds to go with 6 steals, 5 assists and 5 points,” said the coach.

VALERIA GARAY hit 10 of her 13 shots in the third quarter. KASSIDY KYGAR hit all 7 of her points in the fourth quarter.

At the beginning of the season there were no go-to people for the Vaqueros. In this quarterfinal upset CIERRA CUTLER led El Capitan with 14 points.

El Capitan: Cierra Cutler 14 (4 reb, 5 ast), Valeria Garay 13 (3 reb, 1 stl), MacKenzie Mead 7 (7 reb), Kassidy Kygar 7 (2 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), Valerie Renfrow 5 (11 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl), Mariel Vega 2 (2 reb, 2 stl), Adalida Moore (3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Marie Cook (3 reb).

On an emotional high are Camryn Owens (left) and Briajunae Shepard after Shepard drilled a buzzer-beating, 50-plus-foot, 3-point shot from the Helix side of the court. After hitting her long shot just before the half, the captain rolled to a career-high 36 points. (Photo by Ruth Mims)

Briajunae Shepard Irma Ealy Camryn Owens (Photos by Ruth Mims)

The Highlanders (25-7, 9-1 GHL) won the Grossmont Hills League crown.

“BRIA (SHEPARD) hit a half court 3-pointer at the buzzer of halftime to bring the crowd and team into euphoria,” said Helix coach PATRICK TABOR. “It was a great 2nd half. We were down by 5 early but rallied to win by 13.”

Shepard also recorded she also had 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

IRMA EALY rolled a double-double of 16 points and 20 rebounds, making 9 of 19 from the field, while DANIELLE SIMONS grabbed 10 rebounds for Helix.

The Scotties will meet the University City-Brawley winner, which was moved to Saturday.

Helix: Briajanae Shepard 36 (2 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Irma Ealy 16 (20 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Camryn Owens 9 (5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Destini Anderson 8 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Raeshondra Dike’ 6 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Danielle Simmons 1 (10 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Asia Duncan (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

Granite Hills center Madison Lumb (22) goes up with the shot following an offensive rebound. Defending is Westview sophomore Toni Magalei. (Photo by Frank Price, www.youatplay.com) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Helix guard Destini Anderson. (Photo by Ruth Mims) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Ravens, nevermore Helix makes quick work of Canyon Crest By Nick Pellegrino © East County Sports.com LA MESA (2-26-14) — With three freshmen in the starting line-up, Canyon Crest will be a team to deal with in the future. However, at present, the Helix Highlanders are geared for a lengthy postseason run. Utilizing suffocating defense, the Scotties raced to an 18-1 lead through one quarter, breezing past the visiting Ravens, 68-28, in Tuesday's (Feb. 25) opening round of the CIF San Diego Section Division II playoffs at Caledonia Gymnasium. Helix (23-7), co-champions of the Grossmont Hills League, will entertain Otay Ranch in Friday's (Feb. 28) quarterfinals, starting at 7 p.m. The Mustangs (17-12) advanced after whipping Patrick Henry, 56-33. The Highlanders defense was so good, Canyon Crest failed to make even a shot from the floor in the opening quarter, failing on 18 attempts. By the time the Ravens (12-16) made their first field goal after missing 19 straight, the margin stood at 23-1. Among the misses, eight were blocked by the Helix front line, who held a monster height advantage over the young Ravens. For the contest, Helix rejected 26 shots, which could be a school record if such marks were kept. The game plan for Helix was simple: penetrate the 2-3 zone, then shoot and crash the boards, which allowed for an array of outback baskets by DESTINI ANDERSON, who finished with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. "We just kept doing what we've been doing all season – work hard and never give up," said Anderson . Anderson also combined with IRMA EALY and DANIELLE SIMMONS to play havoc with Canyon Crest shooters, placing hand after hand on the basketball to redirect shots. "We work harder in practice than we do in games like this," noted Ealy, who finished with 11 rebounds and 8 points. "We can make plays and hopefully keep doing even more and keep winning in the playoffs." SHIRAH HANCOCK tossed in 11 points and 5 rebounds for the Highlanders. The Ravens’ frustration level reached its zenith in the second quarter when forward McKenna Platt, the team's lone starting senior, collected a fourth foul on a charge. Ealy maintained her position in front of the basket, forging an offensive foul. On the ensuing possession, Ravens coach Michael Ramel came onto the court, claiming Helix was holding underneath when they reversed the ball and prevented defenders from reaching the shooter. Ramel's protests earned a pair of technical fouls, prompting him to fire the basketball to the other end of the court. Following more protests, the referees finally enacted a 60-second warning to vacate the gym or forfeit the contest; Ramel took half of the clock before exiting. By then, however, the outcome had long been decided at 33-10 after point guard BRIAJUNAE SHEPARD sank three of the four penalty foul shots. Shepard produced 12 of her 18 points in the second period. Helix: Briajunae Shepard 20 (1 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Destini Anderson 16 (15 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Shirah Hancock 11 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Irma Ealy 8 (11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Camryn Owens 7 (3 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl), Raeshondra Dike’ 2 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Asia Duncan 2 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Danielle Simmons 1 (8 reb, 3 stl), Ashley Smith 1 (1 reb, 1 stl), Talia Hooker (1 reb, 1 ast), Kyla Napier (1 blk), Chyna Williams (2 reb). Helix Highlanders cheer squad. (Photo by Ruth Mims) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (2-26-14) — The Granite Hills Eagles had no problems with the Westview Wolverines as they literally stole the game. Granite Hills chalked up 15 steals in the first half as they went on to a 64-32 victory in the first round of the CIF-San Diego Section Division I playoffs on Tuesday night (Feb. 25).

Westview was calling El Cajon P.D. on DEAJANAE HARVEY quite frequently in the first half. Harvey collected 6 thefts in the first 16 minutes. By the end of three quarters she had 11. For the game, Harvey recorded a double-double with 26 points and 10 steals, including 5 of 9 free throw shooting for the Eagles

“ Harvey had a great game, which isn’t surprising since she’s so athletic,” Granite Hills coach JERRY PARKER said. “She has great body control and knows how to attack the basket.”

Granite Hills was tied 5-5 at the first timeout, they then closed out the last four minutes on a 7-2 run, and never looked back. In a quick 45 second span in the middle portion of the second quarter, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to increase the lead to 25-9 with just under three minutes remaining in the quarter. At the break Granite Hills was up 29-14 after having a 17-7 second quarter.

In the second half, the Wolverines were under even more pressure than the first half. In the first two quarters Westview had 16 turnovers, 12 were steals by the Eagles.

The third quarter was all Granite Hills as they outscored Westview 18-3 to take a 47-24 lead after 24 minutes.

Parker pointed out that his post players, MADISON LUMB and ANABEL RODRIGUEZ, did a good job shutting down the middle.

SIERRA RAINS scored 13 points, the majority of them coming on 3 triples

Granite Hills will play at Cathedral Catholic on Friday (Feb. 28).

Granite Hills: Deajanae Harvey 26 (5 reb, 10 stl), Sierra Rains 13 (3 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl), Justine Garde 7 (2 reb), Micayela Hernandez 6 (3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Madison Lumb 4 (4 reb), Raelleah Moore 3 (7 reb, 2 stl), Michelle Tucker 3, Emma Kubari (4 reb), Anabel Rodriguez (1 reb, 2 blk), Casey Robles (1 stl).

Granite Hills guard Deajanae Harvey CLICK PHOTO FOR MORE

Eagles guard Justine Garde gets caught in the corssfire on her layin attempt. (Photos by Frank Price, youatplay.com)

“We play hard and our skill is coming on,” said Vaqueros co-head coach RICK WILKERSON. “We’ve come a long way and the future looks good.”

KASSIDY KYGAR led El Capitan with 13 points, including one 3-pointer.

Eight Vaqueros contributed to the scoring of the Division IV game.

El Capitan: Kassidy Kygar 13 (3 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), Cierra Cutler 7 (2 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Valeria Garay 5 (4 reb, 1 stl), Adalida Moore 3 (4 reb, 2 stl), Mariel Vega 3 (2 reb), Torrey Capoocia 2 (1 stl), Marie Cook 2 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Valerie Renfrow (2 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl), MacKenzie Mead (3 reb).

RANCHO BUENA VISTA 50, WEST HILLS 38 – Only four members of the Wolf Pack scored against host Rancho Buena Vista in Tuesday’s (Feb. 25) opening round of the San Diego Section Division I playoffs.

The Wolf Pack (17-12) jumped out in front 17-10 but then saw its offense sputter to a sad conclusion. In fact the Pack was outscored 10-0 in the final period.

“We played very well early, finally made some shots and went up 6 at the half,” said West Hills coach RYAN KINSER.

“We played poor defense and once again went ice cold from the field in the second half,” Kinser said. “The girls played hard but we just couldn't make baskets, had a lot of good looks.”

BAILEY ALBERS paced the Pack with 17 points.

“I’m very proud of our girls, we made huge improvements as the season developed. With such a young group we really look forward to the years to come,” said Kinser

West Hills: Bailey Albers 17 (4 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk), Vivian Panella 9 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Megan Scott 8 (7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Ali Lenhoff 4 (2 reb), Brandi McCrystal (6 reb, 1 stl), Carly Raley (4 reb), Jessica Fondas (2 reb), Tila Whitaker (1 reb).

CALEXICO 46, VALHALLA 31 – Making the San Diego Section Division III playoffs was impressive in itself for the Norsemen.

However, Valhalla’s offense stalled in the second quarter as the top-seeded Bulldogs barked their way out to a 28-14 lead.

TIANA SILVER led the Norsemen with 12 points, while SHYLA PHILIPP added 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds and made 5 blocks.

Valhalla: Tiana Silver 12 (2 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl), Shyla Philipp 11 (5 reb, 5 blk, 3 stl), Molly Lindsay 6 (8 reb, 3 stl), Julianna Qsar 2 (6 reb), Bianca Gorges (2 reb).

VINCENT MEMORIAL 48, EL CAJON VALLEY 33 – Host Vincent Memorial took a 32-27 point lead after three quarters and never looked back in Tuesday’s (Feb. 25) San Diego CIF Division IV first round game held in Calexico. No other information was provided.

MISSION HILLS 87, MONTE VISTA 23 – No information provided from the Monarchs. However, the 64-point margin of defeat was the school's largest since Jan. 30, 2009, when Mount Miguel posted an 80-point victory, 98-18.

HOOVER 45, CHRISTIAN 15 – No report on this Division IV game.