Torrance Bishop Montgomery Brings Rosary’s Run to Halt

Rosary’s opponent scored 60 points for the third consecutive game Saturday night, but the similarities stop there.

Top-seeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery showed it’s in a class by itself with a 60-37 victory over the Royals in a Division III-AA girls’ basketball game at Servite.

The defending state champions put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, unlike Rosary’s previous two opponents, who let the Royals hang around long enough to win.

“I think we finally relaxed, but it took us too long to settle down,” Rosary Coach Richard Yoon said. “I thought after a while we gained our composure and started to play a little better, but they’re talented and they’re the defending state champs, so what can I say?”

It didn’t help that Romina Bollini, one of Rosary’s taller players, got into early foul trouble. With Bollini on the bench, the Knights scored the final six points of the first quarter to lead, 12-5.

Sarah Belavic’s jumper on the Royals’ first possession of the second quarter made it 12-7, but Bishop Montgomery went on a 17-4 run over the next six minutes and the Royals were staring at an 18-point halftime deficit.

“Bollini was in foul trouble and we had go to a smaller lineup, and that really did some damage to us,” Yoon said.

“I thought we could run with them after a while, but they play like that all of the time and we play like that some of the time, so they had the advantage at that point.”

An 8-0 run early in the second half by the Knights increased their lead to 41-15 and essentially shut the door on Rosary.

“We had a great season, we started out a little slow, but overall I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” Yoon said. “We never came this far in the playoffs before, so we enjoyed all of the publicity, the press and everything that happened. It’s good for the school.”

Belavic scored 14 points, including nine on three-pointers, and Maryann Stratman had seven for Rosary (14-13). Bollini, who injured her ankle with 18 seconds remaining and had to be carried off the court, scored four.

Tashara Carter had 16 points and 17 rebounds to lead Bishop Montgomery (24-3).