Sage Hill girls fall in 49-37 decision

The Sage Hill School girls basketball team, which made an impressive

turnaround in one season, ran out of magic Saturday as visiting

Calvary Chapel of Downey defeated the Lightning, 49-37, in the second

round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A Playoffs.

“I’m proud of them,” Sage Hill Coach Shanna Renken said of her

players. “The fact that we made it this far is huge. We’re only a

second-year varsity program with one senior, one junior and the rest

sophomores and freshmen. We went from 5-13 last year to 14-7 this

year.”

Calvary Chapel of Downey (15-13) held a slim 35-33 edge following

three quarters, but dominated the fourth quarter and pulled away. The

Lightning wilted in the final period against Calvary Chapel’s

half-court press and Sage Hill center Katie Puishys spent half of the

fourth quarter on the bench with foul trouble as the Grizzlies

outscored the hosts, 14-4.

Stephanie Anderson and Joy Butler each scored 19 points for the

Grizzlies, while 6-foot-1 freshman Haywood Wright led Sage Hill with

18 rebounds, eight points and seven blocked shots. Vicky Gutierrez

and Puishys also scored eight points apiece for the Lightning. Carrie

Clark, Sage Hill’s only senior, finished with seven points, six

assists and four steals.

“They pounded us in the post,” Renken said of the Grizzlies. “The

minute (Wright) would get the ball, they would pound her with two or

three players. They had an aggressive team down there in the paint.”

Sage Hill, which beat Connelly in the first round of the playoffs,

earned an at-large berth in the Academy League, while Calvary Chapel

of Downey was the third-place team from the Olympic League.

* In the boys’ 76-74 four-overtime loss, Kevin Joyce had 3’

points and Michael Fitzhugh 29 points.

*--*

Calvary 49, Sage Hill 37

CIF Division IV-A

Second round

Score by Quarters

Calvary 9 14 12 14 -- 49

Sage Hill 10 11 12 4 -- 37

Calvary Chapel Downey -- Miller 2, Anderson

19, Islander 3, Butler 19, Chattom 6

3-pt. goals -- Anderson 3, Chattom 2, Butler 1

Fouled out -- none

Sage Hill -- Yoder-Lee 6, Clark 7, Gutierrez

8, Puishys 8, Wright 8, Mainero 0, Kaliski 0,

Schaffer 0, Gonzalez 0

3-pt. goals -- Clark 1

Fouled out -- none

Technicals -- none

*--*