Highlanders win; Pats, Matadors fall

By Ramon Scott
Updated: May 8, 2021

Sophomore Jordan Lindsay, of Helix. / P.J. Panebianco

2021 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

LA MESA – The Helix High girls varsity basketball team put away the Steele Canyon Cougars with an 18-7 fourth quarter to take a 39-23 Grossmont Valley League victory on Friday night.

Senior Samonah Betts, who is a strong inside player that also can handle that ball and has a deep touch from straight-away, led the Highlanders with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers. She also had seven rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Jordan Lindsay had one of her best games for Helix, totaling eight points.

Junior Angel Riggins added seven points, including a three, for the Lady Highlanders, who improved to 6-5 overall and won a key league game to stay in reasonable contention at 2-2.

Helix’s defense limited the Cougars to nine points in the first half to lead by five at halftime. Steele scored just seven points in both the third and fourth quarters.

Helix sophomore Alethze Marquez had a team-high nine rebounds.

SCRIPPS RANCH 51, CHRISTIAN 46 – The Falcons outscored the short-handed Patriots, 17-9, over the final quarter to take the road win at Ryan Center on Friday.

The Patriots were without three players who play substantial minutes, including leading scorer Kristin Williams. Still, the Lady Patriots nearly pulled off the win despite shooting just 25 percent from the field.

Christian High’s Alyssa Speers canned a three early in the first quarter for the Patriots first points of the game but Scripps Ranch opened up an early 16-8 lead.

Noelle Sanchez had a three-pointer, the Speers followed with another triple, as the Pats got back to within 20-14 in the second quarter.

“I am glad to gain confidence over the last few games and just play my game to help contribute to the team,” Speers said. “After playing Scripps, I think we were all able to see what we need to work on so we can work better as a team in the future.”

Tiffany Bickford had back-to-back threes to help CHS get to within two at 33-31. Christian outscored the Falcons, 18-9, in the third quarter to take the lead into the fourth.

“We played well considering our circumstances,” Bickford said. “We just have to reduce our turnovers and not wait until the end of the game to push harder. When Alyssa and Noel hit the big threes, everyone fed off that energy. We feed off moments like that. They are a big thing for us.

Serene Weckback and Jaya Little combined for five blocked shots for Christian High.

“We played well and communicated well,” Weckback said. “We only had six players with real varsity experience, so we just had to work with what we had. We need to turn it up for all four quarters and have high energy throughout the game. Tiffany and Alyssa both stepped up and showed what they can do.”

Little and Bickford recorded steals in the first half.

“I’ve always been one of the best defenders on all the teams I’ve played on,” Little said. “When I am not on my game offensively, I have my defense to fall back on so I just flip the switch and just say to myself, ‘my shot isn’t hitting so let’s turn up the defense in order to get that offensive spark.'”

LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY 65, MOUNT MIGUEL 42 – The county’s top-ranked team defeated the No. 4-ranked Matadors in a high-profile matchup on Saturday.

Mount Miguel played without its leading scorer, Jennifer Moreno.

Sophomore Zanna Hurst led the Matadors with 11 points, including knocking down a pair of three-point field goals.

Senior Arantxa Fonseca added nine points and six rebounds for the Matadors.

Junior Danay Williams-Pope and sophomore Ixchel Rojo both added eight points for Mt. Miguel.

Pope grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

Mount Miguel fell to 12-4.