After Being Stuck in Traffic, Troy Goes Full Throttle

Some letdown.

Troy High, three days removed from a stunning upset of Ventura Buena in the Southern Section I-A girls’ basketball final, followed up the biggest win in school history with its first victory in a state tournament game, a 73-46 blowout of San Diego Mt. Carmel.

Troy will face Lynwood Thursday in the Southern California Regional semifinals.

Sophomore center Amanda Livingston led four Warriors in double figures with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds. Livingston said the Warriors (28-4) were out to prove a point.

“We didn’t want to be satisfied with beating Buena,” said Livingston, who had 11 consecutive Troy points in the fourth quarter. “If we would have lost tonight, people would have said the Buena win was a fluke. They would have said Buena just had a bad game. We were upset that not many people were impressed with our win.”

Livingston said her teammates were also upset that they had to spend four hours on a bus after winning the Southern Section title. The drive from Fullerton to Poway should have taken two hours, but the Troy bus ran into a traffic accident on the way down Interstate 5.

But that was about all the traffic Troy hit Tuesday night. Mt. Carmel’s defense didn’t offer much resistance to starting guards Veronica Johns-Richardson or Alicia Komaki, who drove around and through the Sundevils with ease. Johns-Richardson had 19 points and Komaki had 13.

“Troy had by far the most weapons we’ve faced this year,” said Mt. Carmel Coach Robin Blalock. “Johns-Richardson was the best player we’ve seen. She killed us on the drive.”

Blalock said her girls might have spent too much time reading about Troy’s big win over Buena.

“I think we were a little intimidated and our inexperience showed,” said Blalock, who started two freshmen. “When you allow a good team to go on a couple runs, it’s hard to come back.”

Troy’s first run came midway through the first quarter. Trailing 8-7, the Warriors closed the quarter with a 16-2 spurt--keyed by their full-court press and the inside play of Livingston and Kianey Givens-Davis (eight points, 13 rebounds). Troy led, 36-21, at half and 54-35 after three quarters. Mt. Carmel (28-5) only had two players in double figures, Jamie Campbell (12 points) and Lauren Campbell (11 points, seven rebounds).

Troy’s pressure defense forced Mt. Carmel into 26 turnovers and Warriors dominated the glass. But Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan still saw room for improvement.

“We were a little casual with the ball and we played in spurts,” he said. “It’s going to take a much bigger effort to beat Lynwood.”

Blalock probably wouldn’t agree, but Kiernan said his team was “flat.”

“We had a little Buena hangover,” he said. “At times, we were just floating. You can warn them all you want about a letdown. But they know this game doesn’t have the same importance as the Buena game.”