Troy Finally Gets Tough Against San Clemente

Kevin Kiernan made no bones about his fear, that his Troy girls’ basketball team lacked the fortitude it took to be a champion.

But that’s not the way the fifth-ranked Warriors played Monday in a pool-play game at the first Orange County Championship at Edison High.

Troy held off a rally by fourth-ranked San Clemente, and answered with a strong finish in a 68-51 victory over the Tritons.

San Clemente beat the Warriors last season in the playoffs after Troy had won 27 in a row and in overtime last week.

“They were in our heads a little bit,” Kiernan said of San Clemente, which struggled against Troy’s press and committed 33 turnovers. “I was really fired up to play 1/8because of the history 3/8 but I didn’t know if the players were or not. But they held on when they could have caved in.

“I was surprised they came out with such intense focus.”

San Clemente, trailing by 13 with less than a minute left in the third quarter, pulled to 56-51 with 3 minutes 38 seconds left in the game. But Veronica Johns-Richardson, who struggled with her shot all night (four for 22), made a three-point basket, and Stefanie Schilling followed with another after Johns-Richardson’s cross-court assist.

” 1/8Answering San Clemente’s rally 3/8 was all about mental toughness,” said Johns-Richardson, who had 12 points, 13 rebounds and six steals. “But we can’t give it back against Rosary 1/8tonight 3/8 otherwise 1/8Monday 3/8 was a total waste.”

Schilling scored 15, Katie Hardeman 14, Amanda Livingston 12 and Alicia Komaki 11 for Troy, and Whitney Jones (15 points, 10 rebounds) led San Clemente.

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In other tournament games:

No. 2 Mater Dei 57, Laguna Hills 45--Laguna Hills led by two at halftime but was outscored, 23-11, in the third quarter. Kristian Kirkpatrick scored 19 for Mater Dei (10-1).

No. 3 Foothill 56, No. 6 El Toro 55--Kristen Mann (19 points) scored inside with 55 seconds left to give the Knights (7-3) the lead, and El Toro was unable to get off a shot--or get the referees’ attention for a timeout--in the final seven seconds. El Toro led, 55-52, with 2:27 remaining but Kelsi Sousa (12 points) hit a 17-footer and Mann scored off Jacky Williams’ assist.

No. 7 Edison 54, No. 10 Rosary 50--Rosary, down by 17 late in the third quarter, got as close as four with 48 seconds left on Maggie Barnett’s second consecutive three-point basket but got no closer.