Girls’ Basketball: Eagles pull away from Newport
It took Estancia High sophomore forward Finley Garnett less than three minutes to score 11 points on Tuesday night.
Garnett kept leaking out for open layups against Newport Harbor High in the first quarter, making it look easy.
The rest of the game was maybe not so aesthetically pleasing for the Eagles, but they will take the 47-28 win over the Sailors in the nonleague game at Estancia High.
Garnett had a game-high 22 points for the Eagles, while senior point guard Maya Van Den Heever had 14 points and nine rebounds. Her twin sister, Nefertiti, had four points and 10 rebounds, and senior center Sam Wagner had five points and nine boards.
The pace of the game did not really please Estancia Coach Judd Fryslie, who saw his team improve to 7-2 following last week’s third-place showing at the Orange Tournament. Maya Van Den Heever earned all-tournament team status.
“We don’t play good frantic mode, especially when a lot of contact is going on, so much of it that nobody can call all of that,” Fryslie said. “Normally we hit a lot of outside shots. We couldn’t shoot very well, but that’s the way that it goes when you’re playing an in-district type of school.”
The Eagles, ranked No. 12 in CIF Southern Section Division 4AA, made just one three-pointer. Wagner hit it from the corner in the second quarter.
For much of the game, Maya Van Den Heever and Newport Harbor senior guard McKenna Izzi guarded each other, the two Newport-Mesa Dream Team selections from a year ago trying to limit each other’s effectiveness. The Sailors (2-8) were happy to have Izzi back, as she hadn’t played since the season opener against Costa Mesa.
Newport Harbor first-year head coach Jillian Blackledge said that Izzi had nose surgery in October, and then promptly got hit in the face against Costa Mesa.
“She had to go out and find another mask,” Blackledge said of Izzi, a team captain who led the Sailors with 11 points. “She finally got one that works and fits.”
Newport Harbor stayed in the game early, even after Garnett’s hot start. A jumper by freshman guard Dessie Quinonez cut the Estancia lead to 17-14 with about five minutes left in the first half. But the Eagles scored 16 straight points on a run that spanned well into the third quarter. By the time Newport Harbor junior post player Lisa Hamilton scored a put-back with 4:40 left in the third quarter, Estancia had a dominant 33-14 advantage.
“We played really well,” Blackledge said. “Switching over to man [defense] really helped shut Estancia down a little bit. We just couldn’t get the ball in the basket. I mean, we had one quarter with three points [the second quarter] and one quarter with four points [the third quarter]. You can’t really do a whole lot with that.”
Hamilton played well for the Sailors. With eight points and 15 rebounds, she narrowly missed her second straight double-double after recording one Saturday against Pacifica.
Blackledge, who was the Sailors’ junior varsity coach for the last two years, also played hoops at Harbor before graduating in 2009. She was happy to see Hamilton step up, as she said senior center Lexi Grantz is out on vacation. Grantz is the Sailors’ third-leading scorer at 10.7 points per game.
Estancia subbed liberally in the fourth quarter. The fans and players alike seemed happy to see senior reserve Elizabeth Carrillo make a big block and junior Alyssa Molina-McCool flip up a high-arching shot in the lane that went in with less than a minute to go.
—
Nonleague
Estancia 47, Newport Harbor 28
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Newport 11 – 3 – 4 – 10 — 28
Estancia 15 – 13 – 6 – 13 — 47
NH – Izzi 11, Hamilton 8, Quinonez 4, A. Alvarez 3, L. Alvarez 2..
3-pt. goals – A. Alvarez 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Est – Garnett 22, M. Van Den Heever 14, Wagner 5, N. Van Den Heever 4, Molina-McCool 2.
3-pt. goals – Wagner 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
