Sage battles, advances

NEWPORT COAST — A third-quarter scare like the one at Sage Hill School might have had another team quaking in their high-tops, but the lulls are familiar for the Lightning.

The Lightning (16-9) gave up a 12-point lead against Desert Christian (20-4) Thursday in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs, only to fight back to win, 41-32.

The Conquerors held the Lightning scoreless for nine minutes, 18 seconds, spanning the second and third quarters, during which time they scored 13 points.

“We seem to have a problem with third quarters,” said starting senior guard Katie McKeon, who had eight points and eight assists.

Junior forward Tierney Danner nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, [we get] a little slow on defense,” she said. “It’s been happening a lot. We come out strong, and then something just happens.”

Junior guard Morgan Hembarsky finally ended the drought with a jumper with 3:09 left in the in the third quarter, and the Lightning snapped out of their trance to lead down the stretch.

The Conquerors’ comeback that culminated in a 23-22 lead — their only one of the night — lasted less than a minute. The Lightning’s switch from man-to-man defense to zone helped quiet the Conquerors’ fourth-quarter offense, and Sage Hill held Desert Christian to just six points.

“We got complacent toward the end, and when they switched to zone defense, we stopped attacking as much as we should have,” said Desert Christian Coach Brewster Christiansen. “They hit some huge shots down the stretch, and we were playing to give them the outside shot since most of their points come in the paint.”

The Conquerors came within seven points with 1:07 left in regulation after a pull-up jumper from senior forward Stephanie Taylor, but the Danner answered with an effortless layup. On the Conquerors’ next possession, junior forward Stephanie Garrison came up with a resounding block, her third of the night, to help seal the win for the Lightning. Garrison also had seven rebounds.

“She loves that,” McKeon said. “She pulls that on us at all the practices and everybody hates it. She’s just got freakishly long arms that go everywhere.”

The Lightning effectively stymied Victory League MVP Kiara Gamble, particularly in the first half.

Gamble, a sophomore who led the Conquerors with 15 points, was three for 10 in the first half and ended the night six for 18. She was averaging 17 points per game entering Thursday night’s game.

“She was the leading scorer on the team by a pretty big margin,” said Sage Hill Coach Lou Silverman. “We knew what MaxPreps told us [Desert Christian’s statistics], but past that, we were working during the game to figure out how we wanted to deal with her ... Our goal was to play straight-up, solid defense across the board on all their players, keeping an eye on [Gamble] but we needed to respect all their players. We did that, and we also contained [Gamble].”

The Lightning, the No. 9 seed in Division IV-AA advanced to play No. 8 Liberty Christian in the second round Saturday after Liberty Christian defeated Ontario Christian, 45-38.

The Lightning fell to Liberty Christian, 53-48, Dec. 8.

“It was a close game,” Silverman said of the Liberty Christian clash. “We had a little bit of a rough first quarter against them. They’re a good team.”

CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA

First round

Sage Hill 41, Desert Christian 32

SCORE BY QUARTERS

DC – Gamble 15, Quintero 7, Bower 4, Taylor 4, Boschert 2.

3-pt. goals – None.

SH – Danner 19, McKeon 8, Hembarsky 8, Garrison 4, Hildalgo 2.

3-pt. goals – Danner.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].