GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Rancho Alamitos Beats Kennedy Despite Frank’s Injury

Rancho Alamitos roared to an 11-1 lead before host Kennedy could get off a shot, but Vaquero Coach Peter Pyle looked worried.

Sitting on the bench was forward Michelle Frank, the team’s second-leading scorer, who was hobbling after injuring her ankle only 49 seconds into the game.

Frank could not even join the team in the locker room at halftime, but the injury was noticeably improved by the end of the game which Rancho Alamitos won, 60-45, to improve its Garden Grove League winning streak to 42.

“She might have been more scared than anything else,” Pyle said. “She felt that she could come back in the fourth quarter. We’ll know for sure how serious it is tomorrow (Saturday).”

Kennedy pulled it to 42-38 with 6:10 left in the game, but Rancho Alamitos survived. Jamie Franklin bounced a pass to Sally Vasquez for an easy layup and Detra Vickers followed with a basket and Akilah Rodgers connected on a three-point field goal to put the game out of reach, 49-38.

Janet Neuman opened the game with a three-point field goal on Rancho Alamitos’ first possession and Rodgers followed with a field goal for a 5-0 lead before Frank was hurt. Rancho Alamitos built up a 17-7 lead after the first quarter.

Rodgers, with a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, paced Rancho Alamitos with 26 points. Karin Kitagawa had 14 and Leslie Prochasha added 12 for the Irish.

Rancho Alamitos used a strong defense, forcing 16 first-half turnovers to take a 29-21 lead. But the Irish bounced back to 31-27 in the third quarter.