Lightning strike out on road

INGLEWOOD — St. Mary’s Academy Coach Bo Corona kept making those phone calls hours before Wednesday night’s big game.

He was trying to learn more about the Sage Hill School girls’ basketball team.

“We hadn’t seen much of them, or knew much of Sage Hill coming in,” Corona said. “We were having problems getting coaches to tell us things about them.”

Once the Lightning took the court in Inglewood, the Belles figured them out right away.

St. Mary’s stayed with the game plan, the one Keyaira Hamilton said, “we knew if we like cut off the head of the dragon” the night would be a success.

It was a raging success for the Belles in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA quarterfinals.

Top-seeded St. Mary’s treated Sage Hill like a piñata, shaking the dragon and ripping it apart en route to a 64-15 victory at home. Next for the defending section champ, the semifinals against a familiar foe, St. Matthias (11-17) of Downey.

Three of the four semifinalists in Division IV-AA are from the Santa Cruz League, which St. Mary’s (22-7) finished at the top with Bellarmine-Jefferson of Burbank, followed by St. Matthias.

Impressive as three representatives from of the five-team league have a chance to reach the title game. Each got a chance by knocking off Academy League teams in the quarterfinals.

One of those was Sage Hill (17-10), which earned the league’s second playoff berth. Against the Lightning, St. Mary’s made another statement in its road to the title game, recording its third straight blowout win in the playoffs.

Even though St. Mary’s coach didn’t know what to expect from Sage Hill, Coach Lou Silverman knew what was in store for his Lightning.

“We knew they were athletic. We knew they would trap. We knew they were fast,” said Silverman, whose team was one win away from making the semifinals for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

“We ran into a very good team and we did not have our best night. That was a tough combination.”

The Lightning were never in striking distance, making this their worst defeat since a 65-18 loss to Saugus last season.

The closest Sage Hill got to the score was in the number of turnovers, as it committed 51.

The Belles stymied the Sage Hill offense, getting quick steals and racing for easy fastbreak layups to go up 38-6 at halftime. By then it was too late to mount any comeback, as Sage Hill’s top two players, junior forward Tierney Danner and senior guard Katie McKeon, entered the second half in foul trouble with three fouls each.

“Any follower of Sage [Hill] basketball knows that if I got Tierney and Katie in foul trouble in the first quarter, let alone in the first half,” we’re in a bind, Silverman said. “So clearly we were not the favorite coming in.”

It didn’t matter to Corona, who had three players in double figures, including Hamilton as the senior finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals.

“We weren’t going to make the mistake and take anything for granted,” Corona said. “Our major focus is always defense. We were up on people. I always tell [my players], ‘Know what they’re chewing and what deodorant they’re using. We got to get close to them.’”

The Belles more than got close to the Lightning, they smothered them.

CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA Quarterfinals St. Mary’s Academy 64, Sage Hill School 15

SCORE BY QUARTERS

SH – Garrison 6, Jeffrey 4, Hembarsky 3, McKeon 2.

3-pt. goals – Hembarsky 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

SM – Ludgood 17, Hamilton 15, Redmond 13, Zimmerman 5, Troope 5, Rayfor 4, Haynes 4, French 2.

3-pt. goals – Redmond 1, Ludgood 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].