Girls basketball: Chaminade wins state Open Division title
Chaminade’s Leaonna Odom shoots a jumper for two of her Open Division finals record 33 points against Miramonte.
Leaonna Odom gave herself quite a birthday present Saturday night... one all of her teammates got to celebrate with her.
The Duke-bound forward scored a CIF state Open Division finals record 33 points and added 15 rebounds as Chaminade withstood a furious comeback to defeat previously undefeated Miramonte 80-71 at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
USC-bound Valerie Higgins added 16 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and four steals and Melissa Wright had 15 points, 11 rebounds and four steals for the Eagles (31-4), who led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter but fell behind late in the third quarter before finishing with a 29-18 spurt.
“When they took the lead I said to myself ‘Take a deep breath, regroup, re-focus and do what you have to do to win,” Higgins said.
Sabrina Ionescu had a triple double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the North Coast Division 3 champion Matadors (32-1).
“We had to dig deep, we to push through the tiredness,” said Chaminade Coach Kelli DiMuro, who guided the Eagles to the Division II state championship in 2014. “We played one of the hardest schedules in the nation this year and I think that helped us in the end.”
Chaminade led 43-33 at halftime.
-- Steve Galluzzo
For the latest on high school sports, follow @LATSondheimer on Twitter
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
