Guards not happy with this ending

Erik Boal

After a humbling 44-point setback to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in

Monday’s semifinals of the 23rd annual Bellarmine-Jefferson Christmas

Classic, the host Guards rebounded with their usual grit and

determination against La Canada in Tuesday night’s third-place

contest.

And their pressure defense and blue-collar offensive efforts paid

dividends in the first half, as they trailed the Spartans by only two

points at halftime.

Unfortunately for Bell-Jeff, La Canada made a few adjustments in

the third quarter, took the Guards out of their game plan, and relied

on the efforts of seniors Sarah Beattie (six points and five

rebounds), Diahnn Futalan (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Kasey

Hurlbutt (16 points and 13 rebounds) to post a 49-36 victory at the

Keating Memorial Gymnasium.

“Our goal was to get the ball out of [Hurlbutt’s] hands because

she’s so effective at making plays, and she’s such a talented

player,” said Guard Coach Bryan Camacho, whose squad (10-2) dropped

its second straight game after a 10-0 start.

“In the third quarter, we kind of got away from our game plan, and

that’s what it came down to.

“I’m happy with the way we bounced back, but it’s a credit to La

Canada because they’re a great team.”

Bell-Jeff closed to within, 25-21, on Kelly Hobbs’ basket with

5:08 left in the third, but the Guards didn’t make a field goal for

almost six minutes, allowing La Canada (10-4) to build its lead to 11

early in the fourth.

Idessa Reyes had 12 points, Andrea Morgan added eight points and

eight rebounds and all-tournament pick Thea Bell tallied three points

for Bell-Jeff.