CdM girls’ basketball bounces back with road win over Marina
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Corona del Mar needed a response after scoring its fewest points in a game this season in a loss to visiting Los Alamitos.
It came in the form of a sizzling start for sophomore guard Brooke Barry, who made five of her six three-pointers in the first half, breathing life into the offense — and confidence into her team — to finish the job.
Barry’s sharpshooting led to a game-high 20 points, as Corona del Mar came away with a 51-44 road win over Marina Thursday in a Sunset League girls’ basketball game.
“She’s got the prettiest jump shot I’ve ever coached in 20 years,” CdM coach Brason Alexander said. “We’ve seen her get on runs. To her credit, we’ve been on her tail all summer about ‘the green light is there,’ and she’s not worried about the line. She’s just cutting them loose.”
Corona del Mar (8-10, 2-1 in the Sunset League) forged a three-way tie for second place, joining Marina (10-9, 2-1) and Huntington Beach (13-6, 2-1). Los Alamitos (11-5, 2-0), which grinded out a 28-20 win against the Sea Kings on Tuesday, is in first place.
The Griffins exploded offensively for a 70-55 win at home over the Oilers Thursday, ending an eight-game winning streak for the visitors.
“I think the threes gave the team confidence, and then once we had the confidence, we realized that we need to get inside the paint,” Barry said. “Coach was saying the paint is where you’re going to win the game. We noticed that the fouls are pretty high.
“Long shots lead to long rebounds. … They started scoring a lot of transitional layups on us, so we wanted to slow the game down a bit, set up offense and work our plays.”
Despite Barry’s 17-point first half, the Sea Kings trailed 29-25 at halftime. The tight game required execution in the clutch moments.
Corona del Mar led 44-42 with under three minutes to go when Sawyer Blumenkranz, a junior guard and one of the few players with varsity experience coming into the season, went to work.
Blumenkranz spun on her way to the hoop for a layup, then posted up inside to score on an assist from Isabel Atarod. She made a free throw with 14.1 seconds remaining for a five-point lead.
“I think it was really good for us because our preseason has been a little rocky,” Blumenkranz said of the road victory. “Knowing that we can beat one of the better teams in our league, I think, is a good wakeup call and confidence boost for the whole team, especially because we’re a younger team. I think that it helps show them, like, ‘OK, we can do this.’ We are a good team. We have what it takes to win league and make it to CIF.”
Blumenkranz scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. Mackenzie Kish added 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Maggie Kirkowski chipped in with six points, 10 rebounds and two assists for CdM.
Marina continues to be led by senior guard Rylee Bradley, who last year surpassed Dawn Charroin as the program’s all-time leading scorer. Charroin had held the record at 1,316 points since 1988. Bradley, who scored 17 points against CdM Thursday, now has 2,310 career points.
Anaya Rivera joined Bradley in double figures with 10 points, adding seven rebounds, seven steals and two assists. She also made a buzzer-beating three heading into halftime, Shawna Loi making the long inbound pass from the Vikings’ baseline to create the opportunity.
“Anaya, lately, has become a really fierce, aggressive rebounder, which has made us so much better, both defensively and offensively,” Marina coach Daniel Roussel said. “She’s getting them on both ends, but she hasn’t really been putting the ball in the basket until tonight, and, tonight, she really got us some big baskets, especially in the first half.
“Shawna, she’s just a sophomore, and she didn’t play at all last year. … She was coming off a shoulder surgery, so these [games] are really her first high school basketball experience. She’s just improving each game, getting stronger. She’s obviously really strong around the basket, rebounds really well, she’s got a lot of energy. Coming off the bench for us, that’s been a really big help.”
Loi wound up with six points, eight rebounds and two assists. Carleen Nguyen also had four points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals for Marina.
Sunset League
Corona del Mar 51, Marina 44
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Corona del Mar 10 - 15 - 11 - 15 — 51
Marina 14 - 15 - 6 - 9 — 44
CdM — Barry 20, Blumenkranz 13, Kish 10, Kirkowski 6, Magi 2.
3-pt. goals — Barry 6.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
M — Bradley 17, Rivera 10, Loi 6, Nguyen 4, Abrams 3, La Mont 2, Vazquez 2.
3-pt. goals — Abrams 1, Rivera 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
