Hardeman’s Defense Won’t Let Troy Rest

Cassandra Reeves, Diana Taurasi, Michelle Zylstra. . . .the list of Katie Hardeman’s victims continues to look like an all-star team.

Troy’s Hardeman, for the third consecutive game, did a bang-up job on an opponent’s best player, and this time, it’s sending her team to the Southern Section final.

Behind Hardeman’s defense--not to mention her team-high 14 points--the second-seeded Warriors defeated Edison, 54-42, in a Division I-A girls’ basketball semifinal Tuesday at Sunny Hills High.

“This is becoming a regular thing,” Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan said of his 5-foot-11 defensive stopper. “She keeps shutting down everyone we tell her to.

“I almost felt sorry for Michelle.”

Zylstra, a Times Orange County first-team player, was handcuffed all night by Hardeman. Averaging 15.8 points this season, Zylstra finished with 11, but nine came in the final 10 minutes and Troy holding a 13-point lead, 39-26.

Troy (27-3) will play top-seeded Riverside North, which defeated San Clemente, this weekend at the Pyramid. The time and date will be decided today.

Edison finished 22-9, and brought to an end the 13-year career of Dave White (271-94).

“Their defensive pressure is relentless, and we never got into a flow,” White said. “We had a lot of unforced turnovers [among the 22] just because they got inside our heads.”

Zylstra managed only two shots in the first half, only three more in the third quarter. She finished three for nine from the field.

“It’s easier to play defense when your player doesn’t have the ball,” said Hardeman, a senior who had four steals and often denied the entry pass to the 6-foot-1 Northwestern-bound Zylstra. “So I just tried to keep her from getting the ball. I knew she could hit those turnaround jumpers.”

Nine turnovers in the second half put Edison in a hole it couldn’t escape. Trailing, 13-10, the Chargers fell victim to two three-point baskets by Alicia Komaki in an 8-2 run in the first 1 minute 5 seconds of the quarter, and was outscored 8-2 in the last 1:40. Edison attempted only six shots in the quarter.

Troy’s 29-18 halftime lead was more remarkable because Veronica Johns-Richardson, also a Times Orange County first-team player, had not scored. “I couldn’t make a layup,” Johns-Richardson said. “It happens.” Johns-Richardson finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

But with Johns-Richardson struggling with a two-for-15 shooting performance, her teammates picked up the slack. Hardeman, who averaged only 12 in the regular season, has averaged 15.8 in the playoffs, plus guarding the opposing team’s best player. Komaki scored 12, Kianie Givens-Davis (eight rebounds) scored nine, and Stefanie Schilling scored eight.

Only Rachael Ziemann, who had 15 points, scored more than six in support of Zylstra.

“I expected us to play a little smarter, expect the pressure and handle it better,” said Zylstra, who had 11 rebounds. “That’s part of the game; you try to take the other team out of their game, and that’s what they did to us.”

In another Division I-A semifinal:

Riverside North 61, San Clemente 46--The top-ranked Huskies avenged last season’s one-point quarterfinal loss with a 23-8 third-quarter advantage. Shandrika Lee scored 19 for North. San Clemente (25-4), a section finalist the last two seasons, got 13 points from Whitney Jones and 11 from Kimberly Noble.