The La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) Lady Torreys defeated the Coronado Lady Islanders, 55-18, in a CIF Division IV quarterfinal basketball game at LJCD last Friday, Feb. 23.
“We played hard all the way through,” LJCD coach Terri Bamford said.
It was the play of 5-foot-9 freshman Chemayne Shipley (three baskets), 6-2 junior Jamesha Townsend (four baskets), and 5-10 junior Dominique Connors (four baskets), specifically, that enabled the Lady Torreys to jump out to a 35-2 lead in the second quarter.
“Jamesha has really been stepping up on the inside,” Bamford said. “She’s worked hard.”
Working hard to get Coronado back in the game were 6-foot sophomore forward Angela Stroh-beck and 5-6 senior guard Kelsey Branch. Strohbeck scored three points and Branch buried a free throw to close the gap to 35-6 heading into the locker room at halftime.
“Jamesha was playing outside on the perimeter,” Bamford said.
“However, we had to move Jamesha inside when (6-3 senior) Janae Fulcher injured her knee.”
With Fulcher now back in the lineup for LJCD, Townsend’s days spent playing with her back to the basket are living on borrowed time
“It’s a little bit different playing with your back to the basket,” Bamford admitted.
After the intermission, Townsend and the Lady Torreys never looked back, outscoring the Lady Islanders 34-15 in the second half to pull away for the victory.
“Jamesha has had some big games for us recently,” Bamford said.
Conners led LJCD with 15 points, while Shipley added 13 points and Townsend had 10 of her own. With the win, the Lady Torreys improved their record to 20-7. With the loss, Coronado finishes at 17-12.
In other local women’s playoff action, the University City (UC) Lady Centurions suffered a tough 83-39 loss to the Grossmont Lady Griffins in the CIF Division II quarterfinals at Grossmont on Friday, Feb. 23.
Five-foot-4 senior Tianna Coleman led UC with 16 points. She was followed in the scoring column by 5-9 junior Jamie Vermillion (8), 5-7 senior Lia Vyas (4), 5-11 sophomore Delea Pursel (4), 5-10 junior Jolene Walter (3), 5-4 senior Malinda Richard (2), and 5-9 junior Karimah Hicks (2).
The Lady Centurions will lose Coleman, Vyas and Richard to graduation. But Vermillion, Pursel, Walter, Hicks, 5-foot sophomore Jamila Jordan, 5-5 sophomore Joy Deleon, 5-7 junior Brittany Olivares, 5-7 junior Tifinni Britt and 5-9 junior Jessica Funk will all return next year to a UC team that improved its overall record to 17-13 this season.