No problems for Bell-Jeff
Jim Riggio
There are probably not too many coaches who wouldn’t be happy with
a team that had more steals in the first half than its opponents had
points.
Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ basketball Coach Bryan Camacho
wasn’t complaining after his team came up with 14 first-half steals
Monday night in a Sunshine League win against L.A. Immaculate Heart.
The steals helped the Guards quickly jump out to an early lead in
a 55-30 victory at Bell-Jeff.
“I’m focusing on our defense, and if we do that, then our offense
will take care of itself,” said Camacho, whose team led, 31-12, at
halftime.
The Guards (13-2, 4-0 in league) hit their first six shots -- two
baskets each by Jannae Peoples and Kelly Hobbs and two three-pointers
by Julie Van Dyke -- to jump out to a 14-0 lead in less than four
minutes.
Bell-Jeff made eight of 15 shots in the first half.
Immaculate Heart (4-4, 0-3), led by 6-foot-3 center Ashlie
Hallman, managed to cut the deficit to 18-8 at the end of the first
quarter.
But Bell-Jeff’s full-court press limited the visiting Pandas to
just five shot attempts in the second quarter, none of which were
converted.
“We’ve been working on our defensive positioning and
communication,” Camacho said. “We’ve got a big game [in two weeks]
with [L.A.] Marlborough. If we want to win league, and contend for
the CIF title, we have to play tough defense.”
Marlborough -- which will play at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at Bell-Jeff --
features former Burroughs guard -- and UCLA signee Shaina Zaidi -- as
well as 6-3 freshman Abi Olajuwon, the daughter of former NBA star
Hakeem Olajuwon.
Peoples finished with 18 points, five rebounds, five steals and
three assists. Kelly Hobbs had 15 points.
BOX SCORE
Imm. Heart 8 4 6
12 -- 30
Bell-Jeff 18 13 13
11 -- 55
IMMACULATE HEART
Hallman 11, Hart 8, Sahabian 4, Lopez 5, Lewe 2.
* Three-pointers: Lopez.
BELL-JEFF
Peoples 18 and 5 steals, Hobbs 15 and 4 steals, Napolitano 7, J. Van Dyke 6, K. Van Dyke 5, I. Reyes 4.
* Three-pointers: Peoples 3, J. Van Dyke 2, K. Van Dyke.