HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Braker, Talbot Lead Chaminade Past La Reina in Season-Opener

Chaminade High started the girls basketball season by defeating La Reina, 50-37, in a Tuesday game at home.

La Reina took an 11-9 lead in the first period. But guards Lucy Braker and Kathleen Talbot led Chaminade in the fast break to give the Eagles a 28-14 lead going into the second half.

Braker led Chaminade scorers with 16 while the Eagles’ 5-10 forward, Melissa Ingalls, scored 14. She also had 11 rebounds and six steals.

Chaminade’s Natalie Adomian and Helen Cooley had nine and seven rebounds respectively.

It was the season opener for both teams.

Westlake 39, Buckley 35--Westlake of Los Angeles outscored Buckley by four points in the third period to give the Wallabies a victory in the first girls basketball game of the season for both teams.

The score was tied at 16 after the first half, but Westlake made a powerful showing behind the scoring of Lisa Cohen, who had 12 points and six rebounds. Angela Drinkwater brought in another 10 points for the visiting Wallabies.

The Griffins were led by senior forward Shannon Williamson, who scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds. Buckley’s center, Ariana Lallone, scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds, but was taken out for the third period because of foul trouble.

Kennedy 94, University 29--The Golden Cougars routed the Warriors in the season-opening game for both teams at Kennedy.

Kennedy was led by All-City players Dianne Decree and Stacy Parsons. Junior foward Decree scored 20 points and pulled down 20 rebounds while senior guard Parsons had 18 points and had 12 assists. Senior foward Nina Grooms also played well, scoring 16 points and grabbing 18 rebounds.

Kennedy is now 1-0 while University is 0-1.

Taft 92, Verdugo Hills 29--The Toreadors easily defeated the Dons in a non-league game at Verdugo Hills.

Senior foward Alissa Morton, an All-Valley selection last season, led the Toreadors with 37 points. Teammates Renita Littleton, Bridget Davis and Kana Snyder also contributed to the Taft victory with 18, 17 and 12 points respectively.

Taft is now 1-0 while Verdugo Hills is 0-1.

BOYS

Liberty Canyon 29, West Valley Christian 28--Led by the defense of center Chris Dutton, Liberty Canyon won its season-opening game against West Valley Christian.

Liberty Canyon somehow managed to win despite a shooting percentage of 26%. Anthony Garcia had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Liberty Canyon. Garcia’s brother, William, is expected to be the team’s leading scorer, but he was just 1 for 12 against West Valley Christian.

WEST VALLEY CHRISTIAN--Reeve 10, Abarca 2, Stahlberger 8, Acebo 2, O’Meara 4, Mediras 2.

Satterlee 2, Chris Culp 4.

Flintridge Prep 70, Faith Baptist 51--Forward Jeff Crawford led Flintridge Prep, making 11 of 18 baskets.

It was the season-opening game for Faith Baptist, which took a 9-2 lead in the first period. But the Rebels came back behind Crawford for a 24-point lead in the third period.

In the final period, the Contenders tried to make a comeback behind 6-6 center Fernando McLean who scored 10 of his 19 points in the final minutes.

Westlake 58, Hart 52--The Warriors defeated the Indians in the first boys basketball game of the season for both teams. Despite the efforts of Jim Barone who scored 21 points for visiting Hart, the Indians gave up a solid lead falling behind 32-31 going into the second half.

Westlake’s Paul Keenan led the Warriors by scoring 15 points.