The secret to Brea Olinda’s early and somewhat unexpected success is more than apparent to anyone who has watched the Wildcats play this season.
They call her “TT” and she leads Brea in everything that doesn’t show up in a traditional scorebook.
Tyiona Watkins, a 6-foot freshman, nearly averages a double-double (11.9 points, 9.4 rebounds) and leads the Wildcats in rebounding, blocks and steals.
“She impacts the game on both sides of the floor and her ability on the offensive boards is just amazing,” Brea coach Jeff Sink said. “A lot of people are surprised that we’re 9-0, but I knew when she came into the program in the summer that she was really athletic. I just didn’t know she had the entire package.”
She doesn’t often shoot the lights out – more often than not, she probably won’t have a great shooting percentage – but the Wildcats almost surely would have had a significantly different result in the Nike Tournament of Champions without her.
The plays Watkins makes – hustle plays – can be the difference between a win and a loss. Watkins didn’t score much Monday in a 38-33 win over Windward of Los Angeles in the John Anderson Division championship of the Nike TOC – she only had three points – but she had a team-high 12 rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
“She’s one of the best freshmen I’ve ever coached in all of my years at Brea,” Sink said. “She’s going to be a remarkable player. … She may be the best pure athlete to ever walk into our program.”
FOOTHILL WINS CLASSIC
Foothill did what it was supposed to do in the Santa Ana Elks/Billy Tees Classic at Segerstrom last week.
The No. 3 Knights (7-1) dominated four Orange County opponents on their way to a tournament victory, capped by 56-29 win over Tesoro (7-2) in the championship game.
Senior forward Kaylani Maiava averaged 15.8 points per game in the tournament, including a game-high 23 points against Tesoro. Junior guard Sydney Sharp had her best scoring total of the tournament against Tesoro (17 points) and averaged 13.3 points in the four tournament games.
ORANGEWOOD GETS QUALITY WIN
Orangewood Academy, ranked 10th in the county, still has a lot to prove, but took a step forward in that respect Saturday night.
The Spartans (11-1) sealed their own tournament – the Spartan Classic – with a 42-37 win over previously unbeaten Duarte (7-1) in the championship game.
Freshman forward Jaqueline Saucedo had a double-double in three of the four tournament games, including 15-point, 14-rebound performance against Duarte.
The Spartans’ defense also held Duarte to 22 points fewer than their season average.
O.C. NORTH/SOUTH CHALLENGE RESULTS
The girls edition of the O.C. North vs. South Challenge took place Saturday at Mission Viejo.
Here are the results from the weekend: Tustin 43, San Juan Hills 35; Northwood 60, Rancho Alamitos 27; Laguna Beach 41, Capistrano Valley 30; El Modena 72, Beckman 53; La Quinta 35, Dana Hills 14; Mission Viejo 42, Irvine 27.
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
