Orangewood Academy girls basketball falls to powerhouse Etiwanda after brave start – Orange County Register

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GARDEN GROVE – Orangewood Academy’s girls’ basketball program prides itself on being a small, fearless school unit that is ready to take on bigger or more famous teams.

On Monday night, the Spartans practiced their spell.

The school of approximately 85 students limited their Presion display to Martin Luther King Day by taking on Etiwanda, the 3rd-placed team in the nation that few schools seem willing to reschedule amid the contention due to violations. caused withdrawal.

“We’ve been rejected almost 35 times in the last two weeks,” said Etiwanda coach Stan Delus. “I really appreciate Coach (Leslie) Aragon (of Orangewood) because he knew we lost the games and couldn’t replace them, so he said, ‘You know what, man. You, I’ll give my girls a shot. and play you. ‘ ”

And for the first two quarters of January 1, Orangewood Academy was stuck with the powerhouse Eagles. But Etiwanda’s defense and offensive bounce never slowed as they sped up to an 83-47 victory.

The Eagles (15-0) overcame Sparta (13-5) 28-5 in the final half, holding the home team with a goal on the field, three-pointers led by Hannah Stines with just over a minute remaining.

“For about two and a half months, I felt good,” Aragon said. “I really wish we could have done something at the end of that half and a half but we didn’t.”

“Do I think we’ll beat Etiwanda tonight?” he added. “No, but we started to believe little by little.”

Young forward Jayionne “Juice” Brown built confidence late in the first half with a tackle, a back strike and a header back to equalize 19-19.

And a 3-point goal in the final seconds of the first half by Stines gave Etiwanda a 40-33 lead and bolstered the Spartans’ confidence.

Half: Hannah Stines escape 3 cho@OASpartansbut a very fit Etiwanda 40-33 lead, can’t imagine a more fit team in SoCal than Etiwanda@ocvarsityLIVE pic.twitter.com/xCNv1P5oz4

– Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) January 18, 2022

Washington’s point-bound defender embarked on a smooth change with just over four minutes in the third round to overtake Etiwanda leading to 42-35 but the Eagles were just warming up.

They used an all-round defense, attack and quick breakthrough to give Sparta a 41-12 lead since then.

Etiwanda scored 19 points in a row over a period of fourth inning to pull out of Orangewood Academy, which have beaten the Eagles for the past two seasons.

“We train really hard, we have such good conditions that I know, after a while, they will drop while we will continue,” said Delus. “That’s what we do. We have to play hard, play through adversity.”

Sophomore Destiny Agubata led Etiwanda with 26 points and 16 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. Sophomore Kennedy Smith has 23 points, four interceptions, and four steals. Smith mainly defended Stines during a duel between the two.

Stines finished with 22 points, including 4 3-pointers and 10 bounces.

“It was fun,” Stines said of the clash with Smith. “She is a really good defender. It’s really hard to move her. The whole team defended well so it was really difficult. They pressed me so many times but it was fun. ”

“She’s good because she’s long and she can defend,” Stines added of Smith. “I’ve never played anyone like that.”

Freshman Aliyahna Morris had 17 points and Sa’lah Hemingway added 15 points for Etiwanda, who had gone without the first two games.

Brown finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds. Orangewood Academy also received a total of 10 points from a meeting of freshmen including Vicky Om and Alissa Belen (two 3 points).

“I definitely hope that we can hold out with those two-and-a-half quarters and just say, ‘Hey, if we play that way, we can play with anyone,'” Aragon said. .

In other games:

Yucaipa 46, Santiago 33: Second striker Neryah Lokeni scored 13 points to lead the Cavaliers.

Harvard-Westlake 53, 16 San Juan Hills 42: Second keeper Sydney Peterson scored 22 points to get past the Stallions (14-6).

Number 9 Pacifica Christian 72, Brentwood 68: Freshman defending Addison Deal scored 28 points, including four 3-pointers, and sophomore Annika Jiwani added 16 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the Tritons (13-5). Junior Amber Furch scored 27 points for Brentwood.

No. 1 Mater Dei 63, No. 13 Esperanza 53: Second quarterback Jenessa Cotton had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Monarchs (14-3) past the Aztecs (13-5), who received 26 points from junior guard Kaiya Mack. Soleil Montrose added 15 points and nine rebounds for Mater Dei.

Rosary No. 2 58, Chaminade 54: In the second year, Allison Clarke scored 19 points and Kaylee Byon from Utah Valley added 16 points as the Royals (8-6) rallied in the second half.