Canyon ends misery, knocks off No. 2 Brea Olinda
Canyon's Christina Salvatore was 0-7 against Brea Olinda in her high school career heading into Tuesday's matchup against the Ladycats at Canyon High.
Change that to 1-7.
The Idaho-bound guard scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Comanches to a 64-46 upset of the Ladycats for one of the biggest victories in the school's history.
"There was definitely a celebration," Salvatore said. "We tried to keep it a little bit respectful. It was just hard to hold it back after losing to them for so long. To beat a good team like that, it boosts your confidence. We just feel great about ourselves right now."
Canyon coach Matt Dale said he believes this is the first time Canyon (16-7, 6-3), ranked No. 7 in the county, has ever beaten Brea Olinda (16-5, 7-1), ranked No. 2 in the county, No. 8 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and No. 33 in the nation by ESPN.
The Comanches came close to knocking off Brea Olinda in the first meeting before losing in overtime on Jan. 7.
"It's really hard to explain the feeling because, I mean, we've been losing to them for so long and them being one of the best teams in the county and in the country, it's intimidating for players," Salvatore said. "I think we've been intimidated in the past.
"I felt in the (first game) at their place we got robbed a little bit. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are a great team. We knew coming into this game we were just fired up and ready to go. I don't think we've ever been more focused to be honest. I think our focus was the big thing tonight because we stuck to our game plan and we hit big shots. You can't take anything away from Brea. We just hit some really big shots. It's like one of the best feelings aside from winning CIF. I'm almost speechless."
Lindsay Uyematsu and Sheraton Jones also had big performances for the Comanches. Uyematsu knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 21 points and Jones added 14 points.
In a nonleague game:
Long Beach Poly 53, Troy 33: The Warriors (13-7), ranked No. 12 in the state, just finished a grueling eight-day stretch in their schedule that saw them play and lose to No. 8 Brea Olinda, No. 7 Edison and now the No. 3 Jackrabbits (21-2).
Visiting Long Beach Poly's full-court pressure was able to force 29 Troy turnovers. The Warriors didn't even make their first field goal until Alecia Dimas converted a three-point play with 4:46 left in the first half, but the Jackrabbits already had a 20-5 lead by then.
Destiny King led the way for Long Beach Poly with 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Olivia Montgomery chipped in with 11 points for the Jackrabbits. Gabriella hanson was the only player in double figures for Troy, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"When you get to play Brea, Edison and now Long Beach Poly, and we've already played (No. 2) Mater Dei, we just learn how to handle all different facets," Troy coach Roger Anderson said. "This (Long Beach Poly) is a quick, athletic team that plays very physical. We didn't meet their physicality to begin the game. Hopefully, it's a lesson we learn going into the playoffs, because it's something we gotta be able to do if you're going to compete against teams like this."
In the Sunset League:
No. 8 Huntington Beach 77, Los Alamitos 45: The Oilers (18-4, 7-1) got 27 points from Maya Kennedy in their victory over the visiting Griffins (15-8, 3-4).
In the Trinity League:
JSerra 66, Santa Margarita 39: August Touchard scored 19 points and Julia Kenefick, Coco Miller and Jenna Morris finished in double figures to lift the host Lions (20-3, 5-1).
Mater Dei 65, Orange Lutheran 39: Nirra Fields had 19 points and seven rebounds and Jordan Adams had 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Monarchs (21-2, 6-0) beat the host Lancers (14-9, 4-3).
In the Pacific Coast League:
Irvine 44, Northwood 35: Jessica Thawley's 24 points helped the visiting Vaqueros (18-5, 6-1) defeat their crosstown rivals.
In the Orange Coast League:
Godinez 39, Costa Mesa 35: Kikey Ramos scored 14 points and Joanna Franco had 11 points as the host Grizzlies (18-4, 7-0) clinched at least a share of its third league title in four years.
Follow Carlos Arias at twitter.com/LosOCVarsity.
