The top-seeded La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) Lady Torreys suffered a 61-54 home loss to the third-seeded Bishop Montgomery Lady Knights of Torrance in the CIF Division IV Southern California regional semi-final basketball playoffs March 13. In the first quarter, 5-foot-10 sophomore Maya Hood and 5-foot-6 senior Ariana Elegado accounted for fifteen points as LJCD jumped out to an early 20-8 lead. “We came out with energy, ran our offense well and finished things,” said Country Day coach Terri Bamford. While the Lady Torreys were finishing, Bishop Montgomery was just beginning. The Lady Knights went on a mini-run of 8-6 to close the gap to 26-16 at the end of the first period. “We let them (LJCD) get red-hot in the first quarter,” said Bishop Montgomery coach Alexa Johnson. “But I give my girls credit. They defended well in the second quarter.” So well, in fact, that the Lady Knights outscored the Lady Torreys 9-6 in the second period to trim the margin to 32-25 as the two ballclubs headed toward their respective locker rooms at intermission. Elegado led LJCD with 13 points at halftime and was followed closely in the Country Day scoring column by Hood (10 points), 5-foot-8 freshman Briteesha Solomon (5 points), and 5-foot-9 freshman Kelsey Plum (4 points). After the intermission, it was more of the same as back-to-back baskets by Bishop Montgomery’s 5-foot-6 junior Taylor Sansbury tied the ballgame at 36-36. “They (the Lady Knights) did a good job of pressuring us and we got into foul trouble,” said Bamford. The trouble was only starting for the Lady Torreys as buckets by 5-foot-2 senior Tiffany Hicks and 5-foot-8 sophomore Airiona Sampson made the score 45-44 in favor of Bishop Montgomery at the end of the third quarter. “We had some unnecessary turnovers, which is uncharacterisic of what we do,” said Bamford. “We also had some traveling and strange calls by the officials. When it came down to it, their free-throw shooting was better than ours.” In the fourth quarter, 5-foot-7 junior Kristen Ale successfully converted two shots from the charity stripe to give the Lady Knights their biggest cushion of the contest at 57-48. “We didn’t sink our shots and they did,” said Bamford. “It was a close game.” Country Day continued to keep it close in the fourth period, but couldn’t quite get over the hump, losing their first game since December. Bishop Montgomery was led by Ale (13 points), Sansbury (7 points), Hicks (6 points), Sampson (4 points), 5-foot-8 junior Chelsey Aaron (14 points), 6-foot-1 sophomore Devon Brookshire (13 points) and 5-foot-7 senior Desiree Ale (4 points). “We’ve played a lot this week,” said Johnson. “This was our fourth game in seven days, so it’s definitely a big win for us. They (LJCD) are the best high school women’s basketball team in San Diego. That takes work.” With the win, the Lady Knights improved their record to 29-7. Meanwhile, the Lady Torreys fell to 26-4. Hood had a game-high 18 points and 16 rebounds for LJCD and was followed by Elegado (15 points), Solomon (11 points), Plum (6 points) and 5-foot-10 sophomore Malina Hood (4 points). “Elegado (who had four three-pointers) is an excellent point guard,” said Johnson. “I don’t think we slowed her down, but the fouls did. I wish her nothing but the best in college. She’s going to be a huge success.” The Lady Torreys will have to replace Elegado at the point guard position, but Solomon, Plum, Maya Hood, Malina Hood, 5-foot-7 junior Kaylah Miller, 5-foot-3 freshman Brianne Yasukochi and 5-foot-7 junior Shayla Dinwiddie will all return to help LJCD make another run next year.