Mission Prep girls basketball team rolls into regional semifinals
After a forgettable first half, the Mission Prep girls basketball team rebounded, allowing no field goals and only four points in the entire second half to beat Oxford Academy 40-22 in a CIF-State Girls Basketball Championships Division V second-round game Saturday night.
The Royals and Patriots combined for 19 turnovers in the first quarter alone, and Mission Prep managed just three points in the second quarter and trailed 18-16 at halftime. The Royals’ size was neutralized by the taller Oxford (25-5) squad, and it made layups inside the paint tough for Mission Prep.
The second half was a different story, after the Royals (23-9) changed their defense and visibly upped their intensity, allowing three points in the third quarter and a single point in the fourth, all from the free-throw line.
“We changed the defense up, we went to our 1-3-1,” coach Andrew Richardson, “It’s kind of our bread and butter as we call it, they were throwing right into what we wanted to happen.”
Junior Jenna Lee was a big reason the game turned in favor of the Royals. After Jacqueline San Jule picked up some fouls, Lee was switched to hounding the Oxford ballhandler up the floor.
The result?
Five steals and some very frustrated Patriots.
Lee says the key to lockdown defense is as simple as “looking at their belly button the entire time.”
She didn’t fill out the stat sheet, with five points and a rebound, but she made an impact on the other end.
“It feels really nice to put out effort for the team,” Lee said. “It’s all about getting to the next level. I’m really excited.”
“She’s one of those I’m tough on, she’s a coach’s daughter, she can take it,” Richardson said. “She lacks confidence sometimes, and today her shot wasn’t quite falling, but she won us that game. She was getting steal after steal and it was just neat to see.”
“Her and Ani (Boncich) really set the tone for us on defense.”
Boncich had eight points and six rebounds and added a handful of steals, most under the basket.
Jacqueline San Jule had a team-high 11 points, and Boo Laird added seven points.
Noelle Laird chipped in nine rebounds and two points.
The Royals will host sixth-seeded Bellarmine-Jefferson on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Guards beat the No. 3 seed Holy Martyrs Armenian 56-39 on Saturday.
This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Mission Prep girls basketball team rolls into regional semifinals."