No. 1 Troy Puts Clamps on Aztecs

Troy still has it.

Defense, that is.

The Warriors, the top-ranked team in Orange County last season and this season, played its first top-10 opponent since the return of Kevin Kiernan as coach, and defeated fifth-ranked Esperanza, 43-36, in a semifinal of the Artesia Christmas Classic at Artesia High in Lakewood.

The victory propelled the Warriors into tonight’s championship game against the host school, which defeated Rosary, 79-61.

For Troy, it was business as usual with its coach again in its huddles. Kiernan had resigned two weeks ago over philosophical differences with Troy’s administration, only to be asked to return a week later. In the interim, the Warriors lost to San Clemente, which moved to No. 2 in the county rankings.

Esperanza dropped to 7-3. Its other losses are to San Clemente, by five and four points.

A stickler for defense, Kiernan liked the effort he saw. The Warriors created scoring drought after drought for Esperanza, and it was too much for the Aztecs to overcome.

“Defensively, we’re there,” Kiernan said. “Offensively, it could take some time. We got careless. We’ve got to get a shot; we can’t waste possessions.”

Troy (8-1) got away with those wasted possessions because it took a 10-2 lead and opened an 11-point lead in the first quarter, largely because Esperanza went 4 minutes 36 seconds without a point.

The Aztecs, who trailed by as many as 13 in the third quarter, never got closer than five. With 39 seconds left, after Lindsay Helvey’s free-throw and miss, Bethany Blair’s putback, and Tina Kalogeropoulos’s steal and layup in a 13-second span, Esperanza pulled to within 41-36. But the Aztecs couldn’t get the ball again until 14 seconds remained, trailing by the final margin.

Helvey scored 11, and Blair had 12 for Esperanza. No one else had more than six points.

“Their press is probably the best we’ve seen in the last two years,” said Marc Hill, Esperanza’s coach.

Esperanza committed 15 turnovers, and made only 13 of 38 shots, including six of 20 in the second half.

Blair’s putback ended a span of 6:51 without a field goal. That wasn’t the only shooting drought of the night.

Esperanza went 3:41 without a score in the second quarter, and 3:46 without a score in the third.

“I felt we were getting good shots,” Hill said, “but we weren’t getting seconds shots.”

Esperanza had only six offensive rebounds, three in the fourth quarter.

“It’s extremely hard to make a run against a team like Troy because they have such great players and they’re so athletic,” Blair said. “It was frustrating. Their defense is really great.”

Alicia Komaki scored 14, and Veronica Johns-Richardson and Amanda Livingston each scored nine. Johns-Richardson and had six rebounds, matching Livingston, and five steals.

“We knew we’d struggle a bit offensively,’ Kiernan said. “That will come. We have the pieces. It’s up to us to develop them.”

It was those wasted possessions that Kiernan mentioned that kept Esperanza in the game.

“When you have a team on the ropes and you hit a drought,” Kiernan said, “you’re not going to put teams away.”

Unless the other team’s drought is worse.

In the other semifinal:

Artesia 79, Rosary 61--The Royals, ranked No. 3 in Orange County, were overwhelmed by Artesia’s press in the opening minutes, falling behind, 20-5. The Royals (10-1), who won an overtime game against Long Beach Poly on Thursday, never got closer than 11.

“You could tell yesterday’s game took its toll,” said Richard Yoon, Rosary’s coach. “We weren’t sharp, we were flat, fatigued, worn out. I’d like to play them on a fresh day, but you can’t have everything.”

Artesia (8-1) got 31 points from junior Brittany Thomas and 21 from 6-foot-3 sophomore Lauren Ervin, the two players who transferred to Artesia from Torrance Bishop Montgomery, the Division III state champion last season.

Jen Farner scored 14 and Jenise Karcher 12 for Rosary, which plays Esperanza today.

In the championship of the Downey Calvary Chapel tournament:

Brethren Christian 45, Downey Calvary Chapel 29--Brethren Christian (9-2) led throughout. Heather Spowart scored 11 points, and Sarah Amberry had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jesiree Dizon had seven steals.

In the championship of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions:

Edison 56, Clovis West 47--No. 8 Edison (9-2) built a 32-15 halftime lead and coasted. Bianca Ziemann scored 13 of her 21 points in the first half and Rachael Ziemann scored 11 of her 17 points in the second to lead the Chargers.

Edison finished fifth in last year’s tournament.