Romero sparks Tologs in win
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — Credit Vanessa Romero for being detail-oriented.
For the past two weeks, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy basketball player has relegated herself to meeting — or exceeding — a set of goals she set in late December for each quarter of play. It seems to have worked as of late for the senior guard.
“I like to break things down by quarters,” Romero said after she scored 26 points Tuesday night to lift host Flintridge Sacred Heart to a 59-38 Mission League victory against Louisville. “I’m trying to contribute four points per quarter and distribute the ball around to my teammates.
“I’m trying to get everybody involved.”
Romero picked up where she left off from her previous game. Fresh off scoring a career-high 35 points in a nonleague home win against Blair on Saturday, Romero finished with 14 first-half points to help the Tologs build a 31-13 halftime advantage.
Romero made a three-pointer to give the Tologs (11-6, 1-1 in league) an 11-1 lead with 5:01 left in the first quarter. She then made another three-pointer to extend the lead to 14-1 with 3:28 remaining in the opening quarter. Romero had six points in the second quarter.
“She’s a good shooter,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart third-year Coach Gino Pacella, who received 18 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks from junior center Lana Haddad. “As long as she’s not rushing it, she can shoot 45-50% from three-point territory.
“She’s finally starting to feel it a little. We do want to see a more balanced [scoring] attack, but our bench was terrible tonight.”
Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Stephanie Ramsden, a senior guard, finished with eight points and junior forward Nora Welsh contributed a game-high six assists. Flintridge Sacred Heart senior forward Olivia Warner registered a game-high four steals.
Louisville (6-11, 0-3) saw junior forward Andrea Duva finish with a team-high 19 points.
The Tologs competed Tuesday without starting guard Dana Budzyn. Pacella said Budzyn, a sophomore and a reigning all-league second-team honoree, was suspended for Tuesday’s game for a reason he declined to reveal.
Pacella also said the Tologs hope to get starting center Ivy Fitzgerald back before the end of the regular season. Fitzgerald, a junior, has missed nearly a month because of a knee injury she sustained in the Pasadena Poly Tournament.
