Brea-Olinda Controls Bishop Montgomery

The Torrance Bishop Montgomery girls’ basketball team showed up at Brea-Olinda for another of those Saturday night specials with the Ladycats. But the only bargains the visitors’ fans found were at the snack bar, where hot dogs were going for half price in the third quarter.

By then, Brea was well on its way to a 62-42 nonleague victory, and the only question remaining for the 1,000 or so in the crowd was which condiments to add to the wieners.

On the floor, the Ladycats (15-2) just kept adding points to their lead behind the shooting of point guard Nicole Erickson, who led all scorers with 18 points, and senior forward Jody Anton, who had 16 points and seven rebounds.

Beyond the excellent production from their two top players, the Ladycats perhaps did their best effort on defense by controlling the tempo and keeping the run-and-shoot Knights (16-3) in check.

“We like to get teams in an ugly half-court game,” said Mark Trakh, the Brea coach who also likes to schedule a few tough nonleague opponents on Saturday nights during the season to help keep his team sharp.

The Ladycats, ranked first in Orange County and the defending State Division II champions, allowed Bishop Montgomery few inside shots and limited Knight center Joana Ziuraitis to three points and power forward Keisa Smith to eight. They also held guard Natalie Graham, who makes Bishop Montgomery click, to one point.

Brea went from a 27-17 halftime lead to a 41-25 advantage with 2 minutes 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the last four points coming on consecutive baskets by Anton.

The Ladycats opened a 20-point lead on Bishop Montgomery, ranked third in Southern Section Division II, by scoring eight consecutive points at the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth, four of them by sophomore forward Sara Beckley, who finished with 12 points.

Sophomore center Colleen Hudson had a game-high 13 rebounds for Brea. Smith led Bishop Montgomery with nine rebounds; Mirlen Martinez scored 13 points.