GIRLS: Hillers, Pats, Vaqueros get wins

By Ramon Scott
Updated: December 28, 2018

2018 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

CHULA VISTA – Grossmont High senior MARISSA GILES was feeling it on Thursday night in more ways than one.

Giles, perhaps like you or someone you know right now, was battling the flu bug heading into the Foothillers’ tournament game against Legacy High, of Nevada.

But like many athletes playing under the weather, Giles focused her game and scored scored a game-high 26 points, including four three-pointers, grabbed four rebounds, had six steals and three assists blocked a shot to help the Hillers outlast the Longhorns, 51-41.

Teammate ATHENA SOTELO scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds, had four assists and three steals for Grossmont.

After the game, Grossmont’s “Dynamic Duo,” as Foothiller coach GRACE CAMPBELL called them, was hanging out at Giles’ house, but not necessarily to exchange late holiday gifts.

“I’m still pretty sick and working to get better,” Giles said. “And Athena is still hurting. She’s over at my house icing right now.

“We need to come out hard and be ready to play tomorrow.”

Junior ALEX PURNELL led the Foothills on the glass with eight boards.

“I want to have a great record by the end of season and make a name for our program,” Sotelo said. “Our goal is to win CIF this year.

Grossmont improved to 10-1 after dropping its first game of the season on Wednesday.

“(It was) a good bounce back from the (bad) game we had last night,” Campbell said.

CHRISTIAN 50, WEST CAMPUS 33 – The Christian Patriots, which came away with a second-place finish at the Nike Tournament of Champions Mike Desper Division following a 66-34 defeat to Oak Ridge (Tenn.) last Saturday, came back to defeat West Campus, of Sacramento, on Thursday at the West Coast Jamboree at Ygnacio Valley High in Concord.

SIMONE JAMES had 13 points and ZOE NORDLING had 10 points for the Patriots in the victory.

“Life on the road has been new and exciting,” Nordling said. “Definitely a lot different from last year with new players and a more competitive mindset.

“We’ve been coming to these tournaments with the drive to win , and we’ve been doing really well trying to obtain it.”

Christian got off to a strong start and led 16-5 at the end of the first quarter.

“We had quite a few assists to start the game and our cutting was really good,” Nordling said. “We were able to get everyone involved. It was great to have such a fun and competitive game, especially bouncing back from our last game in the (Arizona) Nike TOC.

“I can’t wait see what the rest of the tournament is like.”

KRISTIN WILLIAMS had a three-pointer in the second quarter to extend the Pats’ lead to 24-10 and CHS led 28-10 at intermission.

Williams made a three early in the third as Christian extended the lead to 33-10. She added another three in the fourth.

The Patriots improved to 8-3 and continue play at the tournament in the Diamond bracket. The Patriots will face Harvard-Westlake on Friday.

“With some players coming back, we were able to complete our puzzle with the pieces,” James said. “Arizona was such a fun tournament and coming with the right mindset as we did, we were able to handle business.

“All we can do is thank God for all the opportunities he has given us, and play for him in this tournament, as well.

“All this traveling is definitely new but brought all of us closer as a team. This year we are always thinking about making a statement and putting Christian on the map and we have been.”

ROLLING HILLS PREP 60, MOUNT MIGUEL 50 – The Huskies roared to a 30-point lead at one point and pulled off a mild upset of the top-rated team in the county.

Rolling Hills Prep led 24-7 at the end of the first quarter and 39-18 at halftime.

Sophomore SYLENA PETERSON scored 24 points but was the only Mount Miguel player in double figures.

Senior guard MICHELLE CORLEY added nine points for Mount Miguel, including a pair of three-pointers in the second half.

The Matadors fell to 12-2.

“Rolling Hills has a lot of talent and they just came out and never missed,” Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL said. “My girls never gave up even though they were down by so much they fought all the way back just to come up a little bit short.”

EL CAPITAN 45, HANKS (Texas) 34 – The Lady Vaqueros stymied the visitors from Texas in a SoCal Holiday Prep Classic NAIA Division game to improve to 2-0 at the event.

The game was played at El Capitan.

JORDAN GRANDY was hot from the outside in the first half, hitting three three-pointers on the way to 14 points.

MACKENZIE CURTIS added 11 points for the Vaqueros. She also had seven rebounds and four steals.

BONITA VISTA 55, DESERT OASIS 48 – The Barons knocked off Nevada power Desert Oasis, which came into the week ranked No. 2 in the state of Nevada

Just last week, the Barons played Centennial, Nevada’s top-ranked club.

“It was a great win,” Bonita Vista head coach TRISTAN LAMB said. “The girls played a great game and rallied together as a team. “

The score was tied 22-all at halftime, but the Barons led by three after three periods.

“We were tied or had the lead the whole game and never fell behind,” Lamb said. “They executed our plays on offense, but we won the game on the defensive side. Our defense was key in this win.”

Next up for Bonita Vista is Liberty, of Las Vegas, another highly-ranked team in Nevada. That game will be on Jan. 5 in the Barons’ Las Vegas versus San Diego Showcase.

La Verne commit Laryssa Kure made some key plays down the stretch, hitting a huge three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to put BVHS up by five.

“She made key plays on defense and grabbed an offensive rebound that sealed the game,” Lamb said.

MARANATHA 53, SANTANA 27 – Freshman BELLA TERRY had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks, but the Sultans fell to the visitors from Pasadena in the Prep Division of the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

“We are definitely playing better and figuring things out,” Santana head coach JORDAN FRANEY said. “Sometimes we have good starts and sometimes the team on the floor isn’t Santana basketball so we are working through how to start games the right way and limit our (opponents’) runs.”

Senior AALIYAH STONE added four points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

“I am proud of our defensive effort. I have kids all over the floor and have heard a lot from spectators that our kids play tough with no quit. The effort is there but our next step is just focusing that effort into taking care of the basketball.”

Santana fell to 4-10.

SERRA 81, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 47 – Senior ELLIE TURK had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, but the Conquistadors’ trap befuddled the Knights.

ARANTXA FONSECA added nine points, eight rebounds, and four blocks for the Knights, while NATALY BRAVO added seven points and eight rebounds.

FAITH WILSON contributed five points for FCHS.

“We have never played a trapping team before and lessons were learned,” Foothills Christian head coach JOEY TURK said.

EL CAJON VALLEY 53, PREUSS UCSD 6 – The Braves won at the Bonita Vista Tournament at Southwestern College to improve to 9-3.

GOLDEN VALLEY 62, GRANITE HILLS 13 – The Eagles lost to a second Golden Valley team, this one from Santa Clarita.

SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY 58, WEST HILLS 44 – In a SoCal Holiday Classic game in Santee, the Wolf Pack fell to 0-2 in the tournament.

West Hills (1-10) had one of its best performances of the season, taking a 9-8 lead after one quarter.

The Wolf Pack also outscored the Mustangs, 14-8, in the fourth quarter.

West Hills plays West Adams Prep in a matchup of teams looking for their first tournament win.

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