The La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) Lady Torreys defeated St. Mary’s Academy’s Lady Belles, 58-45, in the CIF Division IV Southern California Regional Semifinals at Country Day last Saturday, March 10.
The Lady Torreys jumped out to a 14-4 lead over the visitors from Inglewood at the end of the first quarter.
“It was all about stepping on the court and performing,” LJCD coach Terri Bamford said.
In the second quarter, the Lady Torreys continued to perform well. Five-foot-3 senior Kiara Stinson swished two 3-pointers to highlight a Country Day run that extended the LJCD advantage to 32-12 heading into the locker room at halftime.
“We’ve been taking things one game at a time,” Bamford said. “Trying to take it one possession at a time.”
After the intermission, the Lady Belles answered the bell by appearing to score on every possession, outscoring the Lady Torreys 11-6 to close the gap to 38-23 at the end of the third quarter.
“We have the potential to win a state championship,” Bamford said. “It’s definitely within our reach.”
Meanwhile, the Lady Torreys were attempting to put the game out of reach for St. Mary’s by going on a 20-14 run of their own to go up by a score of 58-37. That pretty much sealed the victory for LJCD, despite an 8-0 burst by the Lady Belles to close the contest.
“(5-10 junior) Dominique Conners really kept us in the game with her defense and will to win,” Bamford said.
Six-foot-3 junior Janae Fulcher led LJCD (24-7) with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. She was followed in the scoring column by Conners (11), Stinson (8), 6-2 junior Jamesha Townsend (8), 5-8 junior Lindsay Nettinga (6), 5-10 junior Chelsea Burns (4), 5-5 freshman Ariana Elegado (3) and 5-9 freshman Chemayne Shipley (2). Six-foot-2 freshman Angel Smith had eight points and 10 rebounds for St. Mary’s (30-6).
Next, the Lady Torreys travel to Cal State Fullerton to meet No. 1-ranked Marlborough at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 17. With some shamrock luck, LJCD will win and face the Northern California champ in the state final. n