Sage Hill girls’ basketball among state’s best, places third at Troy Classic
FULLERTON — With each passing season, the Sage Hill School girls’ basketball program has grown in belief, eying the top of the mountain and taking aim at the obstacles that stand in front of that goal.
A decorated core group has helped bring the school its first CIF Southern Section title as freshmen, a state title as sophomores, and elevated the program to the top division in the sport as juniors.
In this final chance to run it back together, the Lightning continue to embrace the role of the hunter, looking up at just a few teams in the state.
Sage Hill, which is now fifth in California, as ranked by MaxPreps.com, took on top-tier competition in the Troy Classic, where the Lightning placed third last week.
The first litmus test for Sage Hill in its aspirations to be the best came on Friday, when the Lightning dropped their semifinal game to Mater Dei 74-64 in a battle of the top two teams in Orange County.
Jenessa Cotton had 19 points, six rebounds and four steals against the Lightning to lead Mater Dei (9-0), now ranked No. 2 in the state after demolishing Moreno Valley 90-50 in the tournament final.
Amaya Williams added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Addie Deal chipped in with 13 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Sage Hill (8-1) certainly will yearn for another look at the Monarchs. Lineups were dictated by foul trouble, and emotions ran high as top contributors exited the contest early.
Kat Righeimer’s running midcourt buzzer-beater had sent Sage Hill into the halftime locker room with a 40-39 lead.
“That last shot, the halftime [buzzer-beater], I feel like that gave us a lot of momentum,” Righeimer said. “Definitely, the momentum was on our side at halftime, but I feel like we just needed to still carry that momentum into the third quarter.
“We can’t control all the calls that are made within the game, but we can still control our poise and how we play. Overall, I think that we’re still working hard. We’re going to come back.”
Post players Emily Eadie and Annabelle Spotts started the second half on the bench with three fouls, and Mater Dei ripped off an 11-0 run in their absence.
Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan said the Monarchs’ coaching staff was looking for better body language after the Lightning turned a 27-16 deficit after the first quarter into a halftime lead.
“We felt we hurt ourselves in the second quarter,” Kiernan said. “We let them back in the game. We also said, ‘Hey, they never gave up. They were down double digits. They didn’t give up. We’re only down one. … We should never give up.’ And then we rallied ourselves at half.”
Sage Hill coach Kerwin Walters said he was trying to “steal minutes” to preserve his starters’ availability late in the contest.
“We couldn’t get there,” Walters said. “Immediately, within 30 seconds, I got to sit my girls, and that’s just a tough thing for us. They’re two of our stars. It’s just tough. It is what it is.”
Before two minutes had elapsed in the fourth quarter, Eadie, Righeimer and Spotts had all fouled out of the contest.
Amalia Holguin filled the stat sheet with a game-high 26 points to go with six assists, five blocked shots, five rebounds and five steals for Sage Hill.
Eadie had 11 points and eight rebounds, Alyssa Cuff provided five points and eight rebounds, and Kamdyn Klamberg added eight points and five rebounds.
Eadie (Princeton), Righeimer (Northwestern) and Spotts (University of Chicago), each four-year contributors, have committed to play in college.
Walters said the Lightning would soon be adding a piece in the form of Riverside Poly transfer Aurora Elder, who averaged 16 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.2 steals and two blocks per game as a junior.
“Mater Dei played a hell of a game, and we’re going to love to see them in the playoffs,” Walters added.
Eadie bounced back with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists to lead the charge for the Lightning in the third-place game, a 63-48 win over Corona Santiago.
Troy Classic
Semifinals
Mater Dei 74, Sage Hill 64
Mater Dei 27 - 12 - 18 - 17 — 74
Sage Hill 16 - 24 - 9 - 15 — 64
MD — Cotton 19, Williams 15, Deal 13, Shaw 9, D. Kiernan 7, Wynn 7, Rice 4.
3-pt. goals — Williams 3, Shaw 3, Wynn 1, Cotton 1.
Fouled out — Deal, Wynn, Cotton.
Technicals — None.
SH — Holguin 26, Eadie 11, Klamberg 8, Spotts 6, Righeimer 6, Cuff 5, Reynolds 2.
3-pt. goals — Holguin 3, Righeimer 2.
Fouled out — Eadie, Righeimer, Spotts.
Technicals — None.
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