Sage slow, but gets job done

NEWPORT COAST — The game itself might not have had a lot of rhyme or reason, but Sage Hill School girls’ basketball coach Lou Silverman was in a rhyming mood.

“We were strong enough for long enough,” said Silverman, perhaps channeling his inner Muhammad Ali after the Lightning topped Oxford Academy on Friday, 40-28, in an Academy League game. “I’m not sure this game qualifies as an artistic success, but we’ll take the ‘W’.”

Sage Hill (13-7, 5-2 in league), the three-time defending league champion, remains a game back of rival St. Margaret’s (6-1 in league) with four league games remaining. Senior point guard Katie McKeon, for one, is well aware of that fact.

“After the first half of league was over, our coach told us that if we wanted first place again we had to win the last five games to control our own destiny,” McKeon said. “We have to come out strong against every team, no matter who it is.”

Mission accomplished Friday night, as the Lightning jumped out to a 16-5 lead over the Patriots after a quarter. Eight of the points were scored by junior forward Tierney Danner, who finished right at her season average of 18 points and added six rebounds.

But the game soon became a grind, as Sage could only score 10 points in the middle two quarters combined. It was similar to the first game the teams played, a 32-27 Lightning win on Jan. 8.

Sage Hill junior forward Stephanie Garrison, who had five points, three steals and two blocks, gave much of the credit for the Lightning slowdown to Oxford Academy (12-9, 3-4).

“They varied their defense a lot,” Garrison said. “First they would go to zone, then man-to-man, then full-court press. That shook us up a little bit, but we overcame it.”

The Lightning, who led by as many as 14 in the first half, saw that lead trimmed to eight by the end of the third quarter.

But junior guard Morgan Hembarsky, who scored 10 points despite early foul trouble, hit back-to-back jumpers to start the fourth quarter. The shots helped spark a 14-0 Sage Hill run to begin the quarter, capped by another Hembarsky jumper with 3:05 left in the game.

By then, the Lightning were cruising with a 40-18 lead.

“We got some nice offensive help from Morgan tonight,” Silverman said. “She was into the game. All season long, one of our points of emphasis is to make sure that we’re getting contributions from everyone, and Morgan is a big part of that.”

Sophomore forward Hannah Jeffrey had five points and 13 rebounds for Sage Hill, 10 of the boards coming in the first half. Senior guard Jordan Hidalgo contributed five rebounds and two steals.

Senior forward Michelle Querubin led Oxford with 18 points, 10 of those coming in the final two minutes of the game.

The Lightning play host to Beckman in a nonleague game Monday.

Academy League

Sage Hill 40, Oxford Academy 28

SCORE BY QUARTERS

OA – Querubin 18, Burley 6, Sanchez 4.

3-pt. goals – Querubin 2.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

SH – Danner 18, Hembarsky 10, Garrison 5, Jeffrey 5, McKeon 2.

3-pt. goals – None.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].