Sierra Canyon girls basketball finds a way past Centennial in Open playoffs
CHATSWORTH — A slow start couldn’t keep Sierra Canyon’s girls basketball down for long.
The Trailblazers remained perfect in the postseason by beating visiting Corona Centennial 59-54 on Wednesday in the pool play in the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.
The Trailblazers (27-2) won Pool C by going 2-0 in their pool-play games and advance to the quarterfinals.
Sierra Canyon trailed late in the fourth quarter, but with help from some of its bench players it was able to earn its ninth win in a row.
Junior Jordyn Malek hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to put Sierra Canyon up 57-54.
Malek finished the game with eight points and three assists. Her teammate, Payton Montgomery, had a team-high 12 points, two offensive rebounds, a pair of steals and a block off the bench.
“We don’t really feel like we have a bench. We have eight starters,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki said. “We kind of just say we expect whoever we throw in there to perform and play well. Jordyn’s been playing really well for us all year, so she’s good against the zone, so we’re happy that she did well tonight.”
The Huskies (18-5) were without sophomore Sydney Douglas, a Team USA U-19 squad member who is 15 years old. Despite her absence due to a leg injury, Centennial still gave the Trailblazers fits as Kansas commit Cydnee Bryant led the way.
Centennial made no substitutions during the game, as all five of its starters went the distance.
Huskies junior Armanyie Reed was too quick off the dribble for many of Sierra Canyon’s defenders. She finished with 14 points, nine boards and four assists.
Sierra Canyon had some early shooting struggles as it repeatedly got open looks or solid chances at the rim, but the Blazers couldn’t get much to fall.
“Honestly, I don’t think things changed for us,” Komaki said. “We shot as poorly as we could shoot. We’re a very good team, and we’re very good against the zone. We’re very good offensively, and we haven’t shot this poorly all year. So shots we’re used to making just weren’t falling.
“So I was proud of how we kind of just stayed the course. We obviously gave a defensive battle, but yeah, they (played) in a zone the whole time, and it worked for them.”
The Huskies took advantage of their opponents’ struggles and charged ahead with a 15-2 run in the first quarter.
Bryant was tough to stop and scored nine of her 23 points in the first quarter.
Bryant also finished with 14 rebounds and three blocks.
Back-to-back 3-pointers got the Blazers going in the third quarter before Malek hit her first 3-pointer of the night, giving Sierra Canyon its first lead since being up 5-4 early in the contest.
The Trailblazers rode the momentum throughout the quarter, which they capped off with an Emilia Krstevski offensive put-back.
Krstevski had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Sierra Canyon’s Jerzy Robinson, who has committed to the University of South Carolina, finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
It wasn’t the typical scoring night for the Trailblazers, but Komaki was proud of the way her team found a way to win.
“We’re focused in practice, which is really good,” Komaki said, “and having a poor performance like we did tonight offensively, and still getting a win against a very good team, is a win for us.”
Sierra Canyon advances out of pool play and is one of the Open bracket’s final eight teams. The Trailblazers will host Mater Dei, the second-place team from Pool D, on Saturday at 7 p.m.
“That is their goal,” Komaki said of winning the CIF Southern Section title. “We have a heavy senior class, so they set the tone. And again, it’s all, it’s us getting better in practice. And we’ve been happy with our practices and our performance there, and you hope it carries to the court.
“It’s one game at a time, and now we’re in the elimination stage, so we got to just stay the course and keep going.”
Centennial also returns to action Saturday and will play St. Joseph of Lakewood in a play-in game for a spot in the state playoffs.