Alemany Turns Up the Heat

NORTH HILLS —  Alemany High girls’ basketball Coach Melissa Hearlihy calls her team a “blue-collar group.”

Not a lot of talent, but a hard-working bunch of girls who play with the energy of that tenacious pink bunny.

Alemany kept going and going until the final buzzer in a 57-32 victory over rival Louisville in a Mission League game Thursday night at L.A. Baptist High.

It was over soon after it started. Alemany took a 15-point lead seven minutes into the game on a short jumper by Kelli Kobayashi and never let up. The lead became 23 points on a short bank shot by Kate Beckler late in the second quarter and the maintenance men might as well have turned out the lights.

“It was over early because my kids came out hungry tonight,” Hearlihy said. “We haven’t worked that hard defensively in a long time.”

Alemany (15-2, 5-0 in league play) employed a full-court press in the first half and wreaked havoc on the Royals, who--with four returning starters--had hoped to make a run at the league title. Louisville had 12 turnovers in the first half, four on steals by Beckler.

Louisville (11-4, 3-2), ranked No. 3 in Southern Section Division IV-AA, shot only 27% (13 of 49) and had no players score in double figures.

Alemany’s Dana Rios shut down Louisville star Becky Witt, a senior guard who entered the game averaging 16.4 points. Witt made two of 18 shots (11%) and finished with four points. She was shut out in the second half.

“I just didn’t have the rhythm tonight,” Witt said. “But they have a solid team.”

Kobayashi and Beckler each scored 15 points for Alemany, and Rios and Francine Bennette each added 10. Six Indians had five or more rebounds.

Alemany, which lost its first two games to Bell-Jeff and Ventura, notched its 15th consecutive victory. But according to Hearlihy, the Indians are only half way to their goal.

“When we started out 0-2, I told my kids I wanted to go 30-2,” she said. “Every game we need to win.”