© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (4-23-08) — Mount Miguel High’s DANESIA WILLIAMSON has been named to the CalHiSports.com All-Junior class first team. That should come as no surprise since the speedy 5-foot-6 guard is regarded as one of the top college girls basketball prospects in the class of 2009.

College scouts from all the major conferences are wooing Williamson, who was named East County Sports.com Girls Basketball Player of the Year this season.

Williamson averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 steals per game for the eight-time Grossmont South League champion Matadors (21-6) this season.

Mount Miguel's Cindy Ekweozor (in white) is guarded by Mt. Carmel's Kelly Hansen at Friday's San Diego County Girls All-Star Game. (Courtesy photo, The North County Times)

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (3-12-08) — Mount Miguel High's DANESIA WILLIAMSON is arguably one of the top players in high school basketball today.

Numerous major colleges have taken notice of the 5-foot-6 junior who most experts believe can play at the highest level (i.e., the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East Conference or the Pac-10). She’s that good.

Not surprisingly, Williamson went from East County Sports.com Rookie of the Year as a sophomore to East County Sports.com Girls Basketball Player of the Year this season.

A point guard with tremendous speed and court vision, Williamson averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 steals per game this season. She also led East County with 59 three-pointers for the Grossmont South League champion Matadors (21-6).

East County Sports.com Rookie of the Year honors go to Granite Hills sophomore guard SABRINA JIMENEZ, who averaged 12.9 points, 5.9 assists and 3.2 steals per game.

West Hills’ RYAN KINSER has been named East County Sports.com Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. Kinser took over the basketball program only a couple of weeks before the season and guided the Wolf Pack to the Grossmont North League title and a 23-8 record overall.

Helix guard BRITTANY WILLIAMS, who topped East County with a 24.5 scoring average, earned first team All-East County honors for the second year in a row, as did Williamson.

El Capitan guard ASHLEY DUFFY, a second team pick a year ago, made the first team this season.

Mount Miguel’s AUTUMN SPIKES also earned a first team spot after making the third team as a junior.

Granite Hills senior MOLLY HILLENBRAND, the East County rebound leader (11.7 rpg), rounds out the first team.

Grossmont guard TINA RIOS and West Hills guard MARILYN NADERHOFF were both recognized as second team picks this year after earning third team berths a year ago.

Matadors miss 'golden opportunity'

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PASADENA (3-07-08) — Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL was frustrated to the max after his Matadors missed what he termed “a golden opportunity” to reach the Southern California championship by falling to No. 1-seeded Pasadena Muir, 43-35, in Thursday’s (Mar. 6) semifinals.

“I’m not sure our girls realize it, but we were the better team out there on the floor tonight,” Sandoval said. “I could accept losing to a superior team but I don’t think that was the case. Of all the teams we’ve ever played in the regionals, Pasadena Muir was the weakest.”

The Matadors (21-6) led 26-20 with less than four minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.

“I really thought we had them at that point,” Sandoval said.

Pasadena Muir (28-2) had its own ideas about that. The Mustangs embarked upon a 17-3 scoring run to turn the game around in their favor. Yet, Mount Miguel, which trailed only 29-28 after three quarters, remained in contention until the final minute.

Trailing 38-29. the Matadors knocked down back-to-back 3-point shots – the first by TRINA CLARK and second by AUTUMN SPIKES – to make it a one possession game with 39 seconds remaining.

That was as close as the Matadors would get.

“We had to foul, and Muir made their free throws in the clutch,” Sandoval said. “What really happened up here is we beat ourselves by turning the ball over too much.”

Sandoval reported 25 turnovers for Mount Miguel.

“It wasn’t about transition baskets,” Sandoval said. “And it wasn’t about their pressure. We just did stupid things, like stepping out of bounds or throwing the ball away.”

DANESIA WILLIAMSON paced the Matadors with 13 points with the majority coming on 6 for 6 free throw shooting.

“All we can do is blame ourselves for this loss,” said Sandoval.

Mount Miguel scoring: Danesia Williamson 13 (2 reb, 3 stl), Autumn Spikes 8 (8 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl), Nicole Fountain 8 (5 reb, 3 stl), Trina Clark 4 (3 reb, 2 stl), Cindy Ekweozor 1 (7 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Shateara Anderson 1.

Matadors roar back to top Laguna Hills
19-0 run in second half halts Hawks

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LAGUNA HILLS (3-5-08) -- When No. 5-seeded Mount Miguel came from behind to eliminate No. 4 seed Laguna Hills 55-40 in Tuesday's (Mar. 4) Southern California Regional quarterfinals, some might consider that an upset.

Not Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL.

"We were struggling in the first half, but I really got into them at halftime," said Sandoval, whose team trailed 25-17 at the break.

The Mount Miguel players took heed to what Sandoval was yelling about. The second half was a completely different story as the Matadors pulled a nifty momentum reversal.

"I remember looking up at the scoreboard and seeing that we were behind 29-24," Sandoval said.

That's when the Matadors (21-5) reeled off 19 consecutive points to ground the Hawks (23-7). That scoring burst transpired in the middle of the 3rd quarter and carried over into the first three minutes of the final stanza.

"We started pressing in the second half and got the tempo we wanted," Sandoval said.

Limited to scoring just seven points (all free throws) in the first half, junior guard DANESIA WILLIAMSON poured on the coal in the final two quarters to lead all scorers with 27. Williamson popped in three 3-pointers and AUTUMN SPIKES landed a 4th trey in the Matadors second-half break-out.

"Hitting those four threes when we did opened up some driving lanes," Sandoval said. "Danesia did a good job of taking advantage of that."

Williamson was 16 of 19 from the free throw line and Mount Miguel was 23 of 30 as a team.

Spikes rolled a solid double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. The San Jose State-bound Spikes also blocked 3 shots and made 2 steals.

CINDY EKEWOZOR added 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.

"We picked up our defense, did an especially good job against their top scorer (Lauren Engelin)," Sandoval said. "She got 8 points in the first half, but we held her to 2 points in the second half." Engelin came in averaging 18.9 points per game.

"It wasn't any one person who shut her down. We had a lot of girls taking a turn," Sandoval added.

Next stop for Mount Miguel is a road trip to Pasadena Muir to face the top-seeded Mustangs (27-2) on Thursday (Mar. 6) at 7 p.m.

"Now that we've gotten this first (regional win) under our belt, you can kinda see the confidence in our girls eyes," said Sandoval, whose Matadors have won 12 of their last 13 games. "They know we are one win away from the SoCal championship game."

Mount Miguel scoring: Danesia Williamson 27 (3 ast, 4 stl, 2 reb), Autumn Spikes 15 (11 reb, 3 blk, 2 stl), Cindy Ekweozor 9 (10 reb, 3 blk), Nicole Fountain 2 (2 reb, 2 stl), Danielle Miller 2 (3 reb

Sandoval expects more from Matadors

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SPRING VALLEY (3-3-08) -- When Mount Miguel coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL discusses Matadors basketball, he points to the achievements of his players. And during his eight years as coach, Sandoval has had a lot to talk about.

Nearly lost in the shuffle was a milestone for Sandoval. It came in the San Diego CIF Division III semifinals when Mount Miguel whipped El Capitan, 56-34. That victory marked No. 200 for Sandoval, whose teams have only lost 44 during his reign.

Mount Miguel will have its hands full Tuesday (Mar. 4) night when it travels to Laguna Hills to face the Southern Section Division III champion Hawks (23-6) in the Southern California Regional quarterfinals at 7 p.m.

"What I'm telling our kids is that winning a Southern Cal championship is much better than winning a San Diego CIF title," Sandoval said. "Based on the scouting reports I've received, I think we have a good chance of winning on Tuesday."

Junior guard DANESIA WILLIAMSON (24 ppg, 6.7 apg, 4.8 spg) will lead the Matadors against the Hawks.

"One thing for sure is we are going to have to get a lot better play from AUTUMN (SPIKES) (12.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg) and CINDY (EKWEOZOR) (7.9 ppg, 10.0 rpg) than we did against Cathedral Catholic (a 56-50 loss in the SDCIF finals)," said Sandoval.

Laguna Hills has one dominant player in 5-foot-10 Lauren Engein, who averages 18.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. As far as common opponents go, both of these teams lost to Santa Margarita -- the Hawks falling 57-46 and the Matadors losing 59-32.

Matadors fail to repeat as D-III champs

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SAN DIEGO (3-1-08) -- Mount Miguel point guard DANESIA WILLIAMSON proved herself to be a 2010 major-college prospect with a solid performance on both ends of the court. But when the rest of her teammates came out tight, especially in the second half, Cathedral Catholic walked through the door to take Friday's (Feb. 29) CIF Division III championship with a 56-50 victory at Cox Arena.

Williamson produced 21 points to share game-high scoring honors with Cathedral's Victoria Lippert, including 10 in the opening period to lift Mount Miguel to a 28-23 halftime advantage. However, the Lady Dons utilized scoring runs of 10-2 and 11-0 in the second half to pull in front for keeps to avenge last season's 55-39 pasting by the Matadors.

"Everyone thinks of us as this veteran team, but we have a young team with just two seniors that start," said Williamson. "And with only 7 players, everyone got tired."

And the numbers pretty much add up when a single player goes against two, as the Dons' Lippert (21 points) and Mackenzie Mathias (16) led the school to their 20th consecutive victory.

Both teams will advance to the CIF State Championships' south regional, yet with the setback, Mount Miguel (20-5) is expected to play on the road Tuesday (Mar. 4).

It was Cathedral Catholic's intention to neutralize Mount Miguel's nside game and the Dons were successful, for the most part.

The record will show that AUTUMN SPIKES finished with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks, but all but two of those points came in the fourth quarter.

CINDY EKWEOZOR also crashed the boards for 15 rebounds, but took only two shots all night, hitting one to finish with 2 points. She missed her only two free throw chances.

On a more positive note, freshman DANIELLE MILLER nearly doubled her season scoring average, finishing with 11 points.

Mount Miguel, playing in the title game for a record 7th consecutive season among the large-school divisions (The Bishop's once went 10 straight seasons in Div. IV) under head coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL, committed 11 second-half turnovers to just 3 by the Lady Dons to watch its lead slip away.

"I thought we got real sloppy with the ball -- we weren't moving the ball offensively like we wanted to," explained Sandoval. "We talked all game about throwing the ball inside, but their players did a good job denying us the ball in the post."

Williamson opened the contest with a pair of 3-point baskets, which opened lanes for her to drive to the bucket after Cathedral adjusted, giving the junior guard 15 points by halftime. However, Cathedral opened the second half with a similar game plan, as Mathias hit a pair of early treys, then went to the foul line on a series of drives to the hoop.

"We tried to force some things -- force some penetration with the ball -- but it didn't work out," added Sandoval. "They plugged up the lane and help on Denesia when she drove. But I can't fault her -- she was playing hard and did what she could."

"Cathedral simply made more plays than us down the stretch. Lippert's a really nice player who stepped up for them tonight, hitting some big free throws and some big shots for them."

The Dons used a 10-2 run to gain a 29-28 lead early in the 3rd quarter, but Mount Miguel answered with its own 10-2 run, with half of the points coming from Williamson. But when Cathedral went on an 11-0 stretch while blanking the Matadors for more the 3 minutes, not only did they forge the game's 11th lead change, the lead would bolster to 50-42 with 3:13 remaining on a Lippert 3-point goal, then sinking 1-of-2 foul shots on the next possession.

"Everyone lost their confidence, so it was a big mess in the second half," added Williamson. "It just didn't happen in the second half -- our confidence just went down."

Sandoval projects a 6th or 7th seed for the regional, meaning, if the team can get past a first-round road game on Tuesday, a rematch with Cathedral is possible in Thursday's (Mar. 6) regional semifinal.

Mount Miguel scoring: Danesia Williamson 21 (4 ast, 3 stl), Danielle Miller 11, Autumn Spikes 11 (16 reb, 5 blk), Nicole Fountain 5, Cindy Ekweozor 2 (15 reb).

Matadors reach Div. II finals

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SPRING VALLEY (2-27-08) -- Mount Miguel, which has been somewhat stealth all season despite its No. 2 ranking, has positioned itself to repeat as the San Diego CIF Division III champions.

The Matadors (20-4), who have won 11 in a row, presented head coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL with his 200th coaching victory (against 43 losses in 8 seasons) Wednesday night (Feb. 27) by dispatching visiting El Capitan 56-34 to earn a berth in the SDCIF finals opposite Cathedral Catholic. The championship bout will occur on Friday (Feb. 29) at San Diego State "s Cox Arena, 1:30 p.m.

Mount Miguel defeated Cathedral Catholic 57-39 in the 2007 championship contest. Sandoval, however, does not believe that a repeat victory will come as easily.

"We"re confident that we can repeat," Sandoval said. "But we know that it will be much tougher this time around."

Mount Miguel proved that it can shoot from the outside, as the Matadors connected on 8 of 18 shots from beyond the arc. Sophomore NICOLE FOUNTAIN landed a career-high 5 treys on her way to a 17-point outing.

"You"ve gotta give it to Coco ," said junior floor leader DANESIA WILLIAMSON. "She stepped up and hit the big shots when we needed it. She completely destroyed their zone defense."

Williamson paced the Matadors with 19 points, hitting 3 of 7 from long distance. She also dished 5 assists, made 4 steals and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Fountain collected 7 rebounds, dished 3 assists and made 2 steals.

"Even though we haven"t played them this year, we think of El Capitan as our rivals," Fountain said. "That only helps fire us up. I know I was pumped up " excited about the game."

Mount Miguel crept to a 9-6 first-quarter lead in a contest that saw both teams approach cautiously. A 3-point bucket by Fountain ended the 1st period, and El Capitan (22-8) seemed to be backpedaling thereafter.

After Fountain buried 4 three-pointers in the 2nd quarter and AUTUMN SPIKES added 7 of her 14 points in the period, Mount Miguel had total control by intermission with a 34-12 lead.

"When Fountain hit those 4 treys it was like a dagger in the heart," El Capitan coach FRANK QUINONES said. "They came right after us and we were chasing them almost from the opening tipoff."

El Capitan"s objective was to shut off the inside. The Vaqueros were sort of successful, as the Matadors" 6-foot-3 post CINDY EKWEOZOR was in foul trouble from the outset. But they had no answer for Spikes, who hit 6 of 12 from the floor and bagged a game-high 12 rebounds, made 5 steals and blocked 3 shots.

"I think the difference in the game is we kept our composure," said Spikes. "Our goal was to make it to the finals and that"s what we did."

ASHLEY DUFFY, who was the focal point of Mount Miguel "s defensive strategy, finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. However, the 5-foot-10 junior made only 7 of 34 shots from the field. The remainder of her team was 8 for 25 from the floor.

Senior BRITNEY LORING came off the bench to chip in 6 points and 8 rebounds for the Vaqueros, while senior JAMIE FERGUSON collected 11 rebounds and 3 steals to go along with 4 points.

"I can"t be disappointed with a 22-8 season, and neither should our girls," Quinones said. "When I took over the program nobody gave us a wink. I"m extremely proud of what we accomplished this season and I can see only good things ahead for us in the future."

Mount Miguel scoring: Danesia Williamson 19 (4 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl), Nicole Fountain 17 (7 reb, 3 at, 2 stl), Autumn Spikes 14 (12 reb, 5 stl, 3 blk), Danielle Miller 2 (3 reb, 2 ast), Cindy Ekweozor 2 (4 reb, 1 blk), Trina Clark 2 (3 reb, 2 ast), Shateara Anderson (3 reb).

El Capitan scoring: Duffy 16 (15 reb, 2 stl, 2 ast), Britney Loring 6 (8 reb), Jamie Ferguson 4 (11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Liana Pitman 3, Taylor Autry 2 (3 reb), Crisela Banks 2 (2 reb), Samantha Spring 1, Ashley Bunce (3 reb).

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LAKESIDE (2-24-08) — El Capitan captured the so-called rubber match in its three jousts with Grossmont North League rival Santana by slapping down the Sultans, 50-31, in Saturday’s (Feb. 23) Division III SDCIF quarterfinals at Foster Gymnasium.

Although the Sultans registered a 56-39 romp over the Vaqueros in the first round of league play, El Capitan came from behind to post a 52-42 victory in the second round.

But the third meeting between the two is the one that counted most.

Much like the meeting in the final regular season between the two earlier this month, the Sultans started fast, leading 10-8 after one period. The second quarter, however, belonged to El Capitan (22-7) as the Vaqueros claimed an 18-9 scoring advantage.

ASHLEY DUFFY led the charge for the Vaqueros, finishing with 28 points.

“In the 3rd quarter we threw in a couple new things,” said Quinones. “We wanted to come out more aggressive, which we did. We took control of the game.”

Nobody reached double scoring figures for Santana (19-10).

ALYSSA PADBERG tallied 9 points to lead. NICOLE BRZECZEK hit a pair of 3s but finished with only 8 points.

JAMIE ELIAS settled for 6.

“Elias lit up San Dieguito for 27 points so we wanted to stop her and Brzeczek,” Quinones said.

“Each and every game these girls impress me. I think this was our best game of the season. It was nice to finish 13-2 at home. It was a packed house tonight.”

Now El Capitan faces its tallest challenge to date as the Vaqueros travel to top-seeded Mount Miguel where they will face the section’s No. 2 ranked team in Wednesday’s (Feb. 27) Division III semifinal at 7.

“They’re not ranked No. 2 for nothing,” Quinones observed.

El Capitan scoring: Ashley Duffy 28 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Ashley Bunce 7 (4 reb, 1 blk), Samantha Spring 4 (3 stl), Liana Pitman 4 (3 reb, 1 blk), Jamie Ferguson 3 (4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Britney Loring 3 (7 reb), Taylor Autry 1 (1 blk), Crisela Banks (5 reb, 1 blk, 3 stl).

Santana scoring: Alyssa Padberg 9, Nicole Brzeczek 8, Jamie Elias 6, Kaila Smith 4, Lauren Mueller 2, Samantha White 2.

MOUNT MIGUEL 71, BRAWLEY 29 – The top-seeded Matadors made it look easy as they bowled over visiting Brawley in Saturday’s (Feb. 23) Division III SDCIF quarterfinal in Spring Valley.

DANESIA WILLIAMSON turned in her usual dominating game at point guard, pouring in 24 points, dishing 10 assists and making 5 steals for the Matadors (19-4), who won their 10th straight and 12th in their last 13 outings.

NICOLE FOUNTAIN, who is known more for her defensive prowess, continues to contribute on the offensive end. The sophomore guard chipped in with 16 points, 4 steals, 3 assists and 4 rebounds. Fountain accounted for half of Mount Miguel ’s 4 three-pointers.

“Nicole Fountain did really well,” said Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL. “She had 12 points in the 2nd quarter and she had a deep 3 at the buzzer to end the 1st half. If she can continue like that we’re going to be tough.”

Mount Miguel led 38-7 by intermission.

The Matadors now point their sights toward Wednesday’s (Feb. 27) CIF semifinals against El Capitan. For the record the Vaqueros blistered Brawley 60-17 during the Barona Classic.

“We’re looking forward to playing El Capitan,” Sandoval said. “I think they feel confident that they can beat us. I think Coach (FRANK) QUINONES would feel more confident playing us than Cathedral Catholic.”

Mount Miguel scoring: Danesia Williamson 24 (4 reb, 10 ast, 5 stl), Nicole Fountain 16 (4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Trina Clark 9 (5 reb, 2 stl), Cindy Ekweozor 8 (12 reb, 3 blk), Danielle Miller 8 (5 reb, 3 stl), Autumn Spikes 6 (10 reb, 2 ast, 3 bllk, 4 stl).

SERRA 47, WEST HILLS 44 – It was a frustrating end to what has otherwise been a successful season for the youthful Wolf Pack.

Surging to the Grossmont North League championship and into Saturday’s (Feb. 23) Division II SDCIF quarterfinals are achievements that create memories.

One of the best things about this season is the majority of the cast returns next year – only one senior will graduate.

But the learning curve was evident in the loss to Serra (21-9). The Conquistadors’ one-two punch of Ashley McWhorter (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Tagisia Togisala (15 points, 5 steals, 4 assists) used their experience to give the Eastern League runner-ups the edge.

“Both of those girls are really good, experienced players,” West Hills coach RYAN KINSER said of the Serra tandem. “Our youth got us tonight.”

So did poor shooting. West Hills, which won 7 of its last 9, made only 27 percent of its 52 shots from the floor. The Pack, in fact, was only 8 for 37 over the last three quarters.

“It would have been nice to make some layups here and there,” said Kinser. “We must have missed 20 shots inside the paint, and we also struggled shooting deep.”

West Hills (23-7) sprinted out to a 17-8 lead with a minute left in the 1st quarter. The Wolf Pack, however, could not maintain their swift beginning. Yet they still had a chance to win it when they fought back from a 7 point deficit with 3:27 left in the game.

SHELBY RUSSO hit 2 free throws and MARILYN NADERHOFF made one out of 2 to pull the Pack to within 4 points.

Nichaela Neal returned the momentum to Serra with a basket for a 6-point lead with 1:26 remaining.

SHERIKA MILLER popped in a bucket for the Pack but missed 2 free throws with 56 seconds remaining.

Both teams seemed to go cold at that point as it was missed free throws all around.

Miller made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 3-point game with 38 seconds left.

“We fought hard but we didn’t make the shots we had to at the end,” Kinser said.

West Hills got two chances to tie and force overtime but missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 10 seconds.

“We did OK defensively. To hold that team to 47 it’s pretty good,” Kinser said. “It’s just too bad that we couldn’t convert around the basket.”

West Hills scoring: Sherika Miller 11 (9 reb, 2 ast), Marilyn Naderhoff 10 (8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Kimberly Clark 9 (5 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Shelby Russo 6 (5 reb), Connie Hines 6 (8 reb), Mariah Bennett 2 (3 reb, 3 stl).

ESCONDIDO 78, GRANITE HILLS 45 – Granite Hills lost a physical Division I SDCIF quarterfinal against 4th-seeded Escondido Saturday night (Feb. 23) in North County.

Escondido (20-9) outscored the Eagles in every quarter. It was the Cougars’ 27-15 outburst in the 3rd quarter that put the game away.

“The game was pretty intense. It got pretty physical,” said Eagles coach JERRY PARKER. “It was almost a rugby game at times.”

“But I’m not going to blame the officials, they let the kids play. They let the kids decide the game.”

Senior MOLLY HILLENBRAND led the Eagles (20-10) with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. She was the only player from her team to reach double scoring figures.

In fairness to the Eagles, they were playing without sophomore point guard SABRINA JIMENEZ, who missed the game for personal reasons.

“We just couldn’t get anything going,” Hillenbrand said. “A lot of that was because we didn’t have Sabrina. But we can’t blame any one person because we just played a bad game.”

That started with committing 21 turnovers.

Hillenbrand is known to be a physical player. But on this night she said things got a little bit out of hand.

“Being aggressive is one thing, but it turned into jungle ball out there,” she said.

SAMANTHA SILVA played in Jimenez’ place, finishing with 9 points and 4 assists. She led the team with a pair of 3s.

“Silva had a pretty nice night, had a lot of minutes,” said Parker. “I’m looking forward to her having a good offseason and coming back next year. I’ll give the girls a week or two off then we’ll get in the weight room.”

Parker admitted losing stalwarts Hillenbrand, AMY SYLVESTER, and KYLEE WILSON, and KARI HUBERT will force the Eagles to rebuild.

“Losing Molly and Amy we lose some toughness,” Parker said. “Those are some big shoes to fill. We have some really hardworking underclassmen so I’m expecting big things next year.”

Granite Hills scoring: Molly Hillenbrand 13 (11 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Samantha Silva 9 (4 ast), Lauren Bender 8 (10 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Kari Hubert 5, Amy Sylvester 5 (4 reb, 2 stl), Kylee Wilson 4 (4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Lauren Koblischke 1.

© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (2-21-08) — No matter how you slice it, ASHLEY DUFFY is arguably the best girls basketball player in East County this season.

The junior guard proved that she’s ready for prime time when she scored a season-high 33 points to lead El Capitan (21-7) past visiting La Jolla (9-18) 57-41 in Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) opening round of the Division III SDCIF playoffs.

Everywhere the Vikings looked, Duffy was lurking. She nailed 9 field goals – 2 of them from 3-point range. She was equally as effective from the free throw line where she converted 9 of 13 charity tosses.

The game started out with El Capitan scoring the first 10 points and it appeared the rout was on.

“And the next thing I know they went up 11-10,” said El Capitan FRANK QUINONES. “We played to the level of our opponents. They took us out of what we wanted to do. I didn’t think we shot the ball very well. We were 30 percent (16 of 52) from the floor. It’s not going to get easier from here on out.”

CRISELA BANKS, who has been a defensive stalwart, notched 5 steals and also pitched in 11 points.

JAMIE FERGUSON, also tough in the El Capitan defense, made 8 rebounds and 6 steals.

“It was a win and we earned it,” Quinones said.

El Capitan, which has won 4 of its last 5, advances to this Saturday’s (Feb. 23) quarterfinals where the Vaqueros will host Grossmont North League rival Santana at 7 p.m.

This will actually be a rubber match between these two teams, as the Sultans won the first-round meeting 56-39 and the Vaqueros countered with a 52-42 win the final night of the regular season. Sounds like standing room only.

El Capitan scoring: Ashley Duffy 33 (7 reb, 2 ast, 10 stl), Crisela Banks 11 (5 stl), Jamie Ferguson 5 (8 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl), Samantha Spring 4, Taylor Autry 2, Ashley Bunce 2 (4 reb, 1 blk), Britney Loring (3 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl).

Instead of sulking about her unflattering performance against the Vaqueros, Elias rebounded to have the best game of her career in Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) opening round of the Division III SDCIF playoffs at San Dieguito Academy.

Elias registered 27 points, nailing 12 field goals – 2 of them triples – and 1 of 2 free throws for the Sultans (19-9). That’s almost four times above her regular season average.

Elias also shared team-high rebounding honors of 8 with NICOLE BRZECZEK. Brzeczek played her usual sound game, finishing with 14 points and 7 assists. ALYSSA PADBERG also had 7 assists.

KAILA SMITH was solid underneath the bucket with 13 points and 6 boards. Another plus for the Sultans was their 15-for-19 free throw shooting.

“We had a good four quarters tonight,” said Santana coach JIM MOTTERSHAW. “We came out and played harder than we have in recent games. We executed well on offense, handled the ball well.”

Santana scoring: Jamie Elias 27 (8 reb), Brzeczek 14 (8 reb, 7 ast), Kaila Smith 13 (6 reb), Brittany Fenn 6, Kim Gross 5, Alyssa Padberg 4 (7 ast), Lauren Mueller 4, Samantha White 2.

GRANITE HILLS 56, HILLTOP 33 – Senior MOLLY HILLENBRAND powered her way to 25 points, 16 rebounds and 6 steals to lead host Granite Hills to an easy first-round victory in Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) Division I SDCIF playoffs.

“This was a good win for our seniors – I think the first they’ve had in the playoffs,” said Eagles coach JERRY PARKER. “This was really important for us to get that first win under our belts.”

The Eagles, who have won 6 of their last 7, were anything but pretentious as they constantly pounded the ball inside.

Hillenbrand scored 22 points inside the paint, while all of AMY SYLVESTER’s 19 points were converted within five feet of the basket.

Between them Hillenbrand and Sylvester collected 26 rebounds and made 8 steals.

Granite Hills (20-9) was never in jeopardy of losing this one. The Eagles took leads of 10-1, 16-5 and 26-7 in the first half.

“Our first quarter we came out strong, then in the second quarter we started slacking a little bit,” said Hillenbrand. “We quit rebounding and hustling down the floor like we were in the beginning.”

What hurt Granite Hills most was turning the ball over 32 times. But what took place inside the paint was all Granite Hills. The Eagles gained a 56-30 advantage on the boards.

“I think the fact that we got ahead so fast and so easily got to our heads a little bit,” Sylvester said. “We know we can’t be this sloppy (in the quarterfinals) against Escondido.”

Granite Hills’ victory was in no way a thing of beauty. The Eagles shot just 34 percent from the field and netted only 13 of 24 free throws.

“We sure didn’t want to lose at this point,” Hillenbrand said. “If we lose it’s totally over for our seniors. I’m not ready to face that. We want to keep playing.”

Granite Hills scoring: Molly Hillenbrand 25 (16 reb, 6 stl), Amy Sylvester 19 (10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Lauren Bender 4 (4 reb), Sabrina Jimenez 3 (6 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl), Lauren Koblischke 3 (3 reb, 3 ast), Alyssa Canoff 2 (3 reb).

WEST HILLS 49, SCRIPPS RANCH 36 – One of the more remarkable things about West Hills is the Wolf Pack is without a superstar scorer. Balance is the name of the game for the Pack (23-6).

In Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) opening round of the Division II SDCIF playoffs sophomore KIMBERLY CLARK set the scoring pace with 15 points. She hit 5 of 12 shots from the field and missed only 1 of 6 free throws.

Steady sophomore MARILYN NADERHOFF was a sizzling 7 of 10 from the floor for 14 points. She also dished 6 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds.

SHERIKA MILLER, yet another sophomore in the Wolf Pack cast, chipped in with 11 points while blocking 3 shots and recording 3 steals.

On the defensive end Clark led with 6 steals – 2 more than CONNIE HINES. However Hines did lead West Hills with 8 rebounds.

West Hills (23-6) took command early, gaining an 18-11 first-quarter lead over the Falcons (8-20).

“We came out pretty well and ran the floor well,” said West Hills coach RYAN KINSER. “Our defense was flat in the 2nd quarter. We played much better in the 2nd half. Scripps Ranch was very tough tonight. They are a very good team, they gave us everything they had.”

West Hills scoring: Kimberly Clark 15 (4 reb, 2 stl), Marilyn Naderhoff 14 (5 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Sherika Miller 11 (3 blk, 3 stl), Amber Darby 4 (2 reb, 1 blk), Shelby Russo 3 (2 stl), Corryn Kivett 2 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl).

MOUNT MIGUEL 87, CASTLE PARK 19 – Are the top-seeded Matadors ready for the playoffs?

Based on Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) opening round of Division III SDCIF playoff action, the Matadors appear to be in prime form. Mount Miguel cruised to a 34-6 first quarter lead and extended that advantage to 53-6 by intermission. It only got worse after that even though Matadors coach ROBBIE SANDOVAL allotted three JV graduates extensive playing time.

All three scored.

“We haven’t played in a week, so it was good to get back on the court,” said Sandoval.

Sophomore guard NICOLE FOUNTAIN paced a balanced Mount Miguel attack with 21 points – 2 short of her career high.

Senior AUTUMN SPIKES produced a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. She also blocked 4 shots, made 4 steals and dished 3 assists.

Sparkplug DANESIA WILLIAMSON, the Matadors’ skillful point guard popped in 16 points and dealt 11 scoring passes. She also led the team with 6 steals and picked off 5 rebounds.

Freshman DANIELLE MILLER, dubbed a “defensive specialist” by Sandoval, enjoyed one of her best offensive outings with 11 points to go along with 5 steals, 4 rebounds and a pair of assists.

Sophomore SONJA RAY, who was promoted from the JV, contributed 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals to the Mount Miguel coffers.

Mount Miguel scoring: Nicole Fountain 21 (4 reb, 3 stl), Autumn Spikes 17 (10 reb, 3 ast, 4 blk, 4 stl), Danesia Williamson 16 (5 reb, 11 ast, 6 stl), Danielle Miller 11 (4 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl), Cindy Ekweozor 6 (7 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl), Trina Clark 5 (2 reb, 2 stl), Shateara Anderson 4 (3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Sonja Ray 4 (3 reb, 2 stl), Shanice Sutton 2 (2 reb, 2 stl), Jessica Bautista 1.

ORANGE GLEN 56, GROSSMONT 48 – When Grossmont coach MARK DeFEDE was watching Orange Glen warm up before Wednesday night’s (Feb. 20) Division II SDCIF Playoff opener in North County, he scratched his head, wondering how his team lost to the Patriots 47-41 during the regular season.

“I just can’t figure it out, DeFede said. “Orange Glen is nowhere near as good as West Hills, El Capitan or Santana. But you’ve got to give them credit because they beat us twice.”

Grossmont (13-12) was playing catch-up almost from the opening tip. The Patriots (15-13) led 25-14 at intermission and stretched that advantage to 16 points late in the 4th quarter.

“We scored the last 8 points of the game,” DeFede said. “So it really wasn’t that close.”

DeFede observed that Orange Glen did a good job on the defensive end, neutralizing Foothillers senior guard TINA RIOS.

“They extended their zone defense and really pressured us,” the Foothillers’ first-year coach said. “We turned the ball over way too much – like 25 times. They were determined to take Tina out of the game.”

Rios fouled out with 4 minutes to go.

“We couldn’t get the ball inside to TERRA (MUSGROVE) often enough,” DeFede said.

HEATHER SPRINGE led Grossmont with 18 points – including 2 threes and 6 of 8 free throw shooting. She also captured 7 rebounds, 2 fewer than Musgrove, who also scored 10 points.

Rios’ final line as a high school basketball player read: 7 points (1 three), 3 steals and 4 assists.

In reflecting on the season, DeFede said, “For having only one returning starter I thought we did really well. I know I had a lot of fun.”

Grossmont scoring: Heather Springe 18 (7 reb), Terra Musgrove 10 (9 reb), Tina Rios 7 (3 stl, 4 ast), Allison Baxter 7, Danielle Balderas 2, Tiffany Tooson 2, Chanel Putras 2.

EASTLAKE 75, HELIX 35 – The 3rd-seeded Titans (21-7) used a 32-6 third-quarter explosion to turn Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) Division I SDCIF playoff opener into a rout.

“It was a pretty good game in the first half,” said Helix assistant coach WILLY HATHAWAY. “We were down by only 6 points with less than a minute to go, with the ball. But we turned the ball over and Eastlake went down to the other end and completed an and-one. But even after that we were only down by 9 (30-21).”

“We as coaches were pretty excited and told our kids we were right in the game.”

The 3rd quarter was a disaster.

The Highlanders (12-16), who were hammered on the boards throughout the evening, did little more than turn the ball over.

“We weren’t running any offense and it seemed like every time we came down to the offensive end we had only one person shooting,” said Helix coach TRINA HANSEN. “And (the Titans) took advantage of a lot of long rebounds, turning them into layups. We picked the wrong time to play one of our worst games.”

BRITTANY WILLIAMS hit only 6 of 20 shots from the field and 3 of 6 free throws to lead the Highlanders with 15 points – 10 below her season average.

“I really had a good feeling coming in to this game,” Hansen said. “But we’ve been a hot-and-cold team all season.”

Helix scoring: Brittany Williams 15 (3 reb, 3 stl, 2 ast), Sinoi Leasau 7 (2 reb), Kami Oliver 4, Tatiana Jackson 2, Patrice Craig 2, Cierra Coleman 2, Mariah Walker 2, Chanelle McNutt 1.

MT. CARMEL 77, EL CAJON VALLEY 28 – Although the Braves improved dramatically over last season, they were clearly overmatched in Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) 1st round of the SDCIF Division II playoffs against the 3rd-seeded Sundevils (17-11) at Mt. Carmel.

For El Cajon Valley (8-20) just making the playoffs had to be considered a goal met.

Mt. Carmel (17-11) bolted to a 69-20 bulge after three quarters and then coasted to the finish line with a running clock in the 4th quarter.

“HAZEL DOE was outstanding,” said El Cajon Valley coach RANDY ROBINSON. “She had a great game – at 5-foot-3, she even blocked a shot.”

Doe finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals, while TERICKA WILLIAMS popped in 10 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.

“It was my sophomores who stepped up tonight,” Robinson added. “I’m very pleased with their play. I like our team’s attitude – they asked me if I’m going to open the gym tomorrow. I told them no, not tomorrow. They are eager to play the game.”

El Cajon Valley scoring: Tericka Williams 10 (4 reb), Hazel Doe 6 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl), Samantha Julien 6 (6 reb), Jeena Norwarekar 2, Kaylani Faten 2 (7 reb).

SERRA 51, STEELE CANYON 41 – The curtain fell on the visiting Cougars (13-15) who put up a good fight before falling to Serra (20-9) in Wednesday’s (Feb. 20) SDCIF Division II playoff opener.

“We didn’t play well at all tonight,” said Steele Canyon coach PENNY SMITH. “Most of our baskets came from outside. We were unable to get anything down low. Serra completely out-played us.

Steele Canyon scoring: Janvier Barbarin 12, Belinda Pickens 9, Brianna Eiter 8, Katy Snew 6, Julianne Kolegraff 6.