Bell-Jeff girls’ basketball finally finds rhythm, opens playoffs with big win against Thacher
BURBANK — The Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ basketball team opened the playoffs Saturday evening against Thacher playing its usual brand of aggressive, swarming defense, which made things rough on its opponent, as it created a rash of turnovers.
But through the first half, the top-seeded Guards weren’t able to take a commanding lead in their Division V-A first-round contest, because they had trouble taking care of the ball themselves, which led to their share of turnovers, as well.
Bell-Jeff was able to cut down on the miscues in the third quarter and that’s when it made its move. The Guards used a dominant third quarter to put away the Toads for a 58-27 victory at home.
The Guards forced 17 turnovers in the first quarter and six more in the second. But the Toads (13-7), the No. 3 team from the Frontier League, benefited from 13 turnovers by Bell-Jeff in the opening half.
“I felt that we just came out so sloppy,” said Bell-Jeff Coach Claudia Villa, whose team forced 39 turnovers in the game. “We looked disoriented and any negative thing that we could do, we did. We had some girls who were sick and maybe that had something to do with in.
“But really, we didn’t start playing Bell-Jeff basketball until the third quarter and thank goodness it wasn’t too late by then.”
Despite its defensive pressure, Bell-Jeff held just an 18-9 advantage through one quarter. Bell-Jeff received a big effort in the opening stanza by Claire Borot, who tallied 14 of her game-high 23 points. Borot added 13 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
The Guards also received 11 points, eight steals and six rebounds from Cosette Balmy, nine points from Paige Losoya, eight points from Kayla Advetante and five points, nine rebounds and six steals from Dalila Rincan.
With the win, Bell-Jeff, which captured the Santa Fe League championship this season and advanced to the Division VI championship last season, has won 16 straight games.
Next up for the Guards will be Trinity Classical Academy from Santa Clarita, which will host the quarterfinal game Wednesday. Trinity (14-8) defeated Lone Pine, 54-47, in its playoff opener Saturday evening.
The Guards increased their lead slightly in the second quarter, outscoring Thacher, 14-12, to go into halftime with an 11-point advantage, 32-21.
It was in the third quarter when the Guards made their move. They committed just three turnovers, forced 11 Thacher turnovers and limited the Toads’ offense to just one point while winning the stanza, 17-1. The lone Toads point was a free throw by Jordan Perry with 3:08 remaining.
“We like to play that tough defense and when we get them to make mistakes we want more,” Borot said. “That’s what we like to do and I know it’s hard for some teams to deal with. We have to play like that if we want to win.”
With a 49-22 lead after three and the game well in hand, Bell-Jeff committed just one turnover in the fourth quarter.
“We are going to have to work on some things for sure before our next game,” Villa said. “We can’t start out like that against another team because they m
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports