Taft Doesn’t Have Enough in Reserve

Freshman Cherhara Shields came off the bench to get 10 points, seven rebounds, one blocked shot and two steals to lead El Camino Real High to a 57-41 victory over Taft in a West Valley League opener Wednesday at El Camino Real.

“She played great,” Coach Lori Chandler of El Camino Real said. “She’s up and down, to be honest. But she really gave us a huge spark in this game.”

In contrast, the Toreadors (9-3) had key players going to the bench.

Starting forward Beonka Henderson fouled out while starters Denisha McCoy and Oreeille Revish were hampered by foul trouble.

El Camino Real also had foul problems. Center Tiffany Furrell fouled out and Karen Shun, the team’s second leading scorer (13.2) and leading rebounder (8.9), picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter.

A basket by McCoy gave the Toreadors a 16-9 lead early in the second quarter, but with Revish and McCoy on the bench most of the time, Taft made just one of 11 shot attempts in the second period. El Camino Real, meanwhile, got a boost from Shields and reserve Julia Stroessel and took a 22-19 lead at the half.

Shields had four points, five rebounds and blocked a shot during the quarter. Stroessel made one basket and had two rebounds.

Taft was within 26-23 with 5:30 to go in the third quarter, but the Conquistadores used a 14-4 run to take an insurmountable 13-point lead.

Christina Aguinaga led El Camino Real with 23 points.