Alemany Plays Strong but Loses to Powerful Ayala

The Alemany High girls’ basketball team lost to Ayala, 61-55, on Saturday but the Indians were anything but downcast after the nonleague loss to the No. 10 team in the Southern Section Division I-AA poll.

“If we play as well the rest of the season as we did tonight, we’ll be in great shape,” said Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy, whose team fell to Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday in a key Mission League game.

The Indians (13-6) rallied from a nine-point first-quarter deficit and outscored the Bulldogs, 41-38, over the final three periods at L.A. Baptist High.

Senior guard Kelli Kobayashi scored 11 of her game-high 21 points in the third quarter for Alemany, which took a brief six-point lead early in the second half.

Karina Siam scored 13 points, including a seven-for-eight effort from the free-throw line. Guard Kate Beckler added 12 points.

Candace Allen scored 15 points for the Bulldogs (17-2). Mindy Hearlaivert scored 10 of her 13 points in the first quarter, when Ayala took a 23-14 lead.

In other girls’ games:

Buena 64, San Marcos 28--Freshman Kelly Greathouse had 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Bulldogs (14-1, 6-0), who won their 50th consecutive Channel League game.

Robyn Frost and Krystal McFarland each added eight points for Buena, ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times.

Oxnard 40, Hueneme 38--Tina Samaniego scored on a layup with seven seconds remaining to give the Yellowjackets (4-12, 2-4) a Channel League victory at Hueneme.

Samaniego finished with 10 points, seven assists and six steals, and Esmer Martinez had 13 points for Oxnard.

Cerritos 54, Thousand Oaks 43--The Lancers, who upset Royal on Friday to climb into a first-place tie in the Marmonte League, lost a nonleague game against the second-ranked team in Southern Section Division I-A.

Elena Salvador scored nine points for Thousand Oaks (10-5).

Flintridge Sacred Heart 64, Flintridge Prep 41--Danielle Dal Ponte had 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Megan Hankins had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Danielle Turner had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Tologs (5-8) in a nonleague game at Flintridge Prep.

BOYS

Canyon 54, Saugus 44--Mike Reardon came off the bench for 16 points and Everett Bryson had 12 points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots for the Cowboys (10-9, 2-1) in a Foothill League game at Canyon.

Pacific Hills 93, Campbell Hall 78--Josh Glass had 31 points and 10 assists for the Vikings (11-6, 1-2) in a Delphic League game at Murphy High.