Sports
Sea Hawks Have No. 3 Troy Down, But Can't Close
Redondo Union girls basketball team struggles to score in the fourth quarter, allowing the Warriors to steal a 41-36 decision at the West Coast Holiday Classic.
Redondo Union won just about every battle against Fullerton Troy, the No. 3 Division 1A team in the CIF-Southern Section.
But unfortunately for the Sea Hawks, the victory went to the Warriors, who used a late surge to steal a 41-36 victory on Tuesday in the championship bracket of the West Coast Holiday Festival.
Redondo led for nearly the entire contest, played at Beverly Hills High. But a scoring drought for the majority of the second half doomed the Sea Hawks. Redondo could muster only six points in the fourth quarter, when the game got away.
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Coach Chris Bouch said he was proud of the intensity his team displayed, but admitted the fourth quarter scoring drought was tough to take.
"That was real disappointing," he said. "We battled so hard all three quarters prior to that. I thought we panicked a little bit and we lost our poise.''
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That panic, Bouch said, led to some forced shots as the Sea Hawks strayed from their game plan. "We rushed and took to many quick shots. I would have liked to see us go in to the post more," he said.
Rachel Scarlett led Redondo with 12 points.
Redondo (7-4) came out strong, using a man-to-man pressure defense to force several Troy (8-2) turnovers and take an 11-8 first-quarter lead. The second quarter stayed tight—the Sea Hawks stretched their lead to 21-17 before the Warriors worked their way back to tie the score at 21.
Two big 3-pointers from Riki Murakami and Scarlett ignited a 6-0 run and pushed the Redondo lead to 29-23 midway through the third quarter. But Troy used a 7-0 run at the end of the period to take their first lead at 31-30.
Redondo's offensive woes started in the fourth quarter, and the timing could not have been worse. Troy found its stride and extended the lead.
The Warriors' Briana Roberson buried a 3-pointer from the corner to push the lead to 36-30. Troy put Redondo on the foul line on consecutive possessions and the Sea Hawks hit all four shots to cut the lead to 38-34 with just under a minute remaining. A layup by Scarlett made it 39-36 with 20 seconds on the clock. Redondo had a chance to tie but Scarlett's 3-point attempt came off the front of the rim to end the Sea Hawks' comeback bid.
Bouch said his team must to understand the importance of playing a complete game in their next contest, Wednesday at 2 p.m. against Playa del Rey St. Bernard.
"The girls have to be ready to play four quarters,'' he said. ''We need to maintain our poise and focus and offensively we need focus on ball control and more quality shots.''