St. Monica Academy girls’ basketball makes quick work of Le Lycee
Therese Boles and the St. Monica Academy girls’ basketball team recorded a lopsided International League win on Wednesday.
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Pasadena — It took one quarter for the St. Monica Academy girls’ basketball team to establish its dominance on Wednesday afternoon.
The host Crusaders scored all the offense they needed in only eight minutes in defeating International League challenger Le Lycee, 54-13, at the New Revelations Church gym.
The victory was the 22nd consecutive in league for the two-time champion Crusaders (11-4, 4-0 in league), the fifth-ranked team in Division VI, who have now beaten four league opponents by an average margin of 37.5 points.
“I liked our hustle out there,” St. Monica Coach Colleen Smith said. “We certainly didn’t shoot our best and our rebounding could have been better, but the effort and hustle is always there and that helps create baskets, especially on defense. When we have trouble shooting, we can count on the defense to get us going.”
For most of the contest, it seemed as if the Crusaders could strip Le Lycee (11-3, 9-1) at will.
St. Monica forced 14 turnovers (10 steals) in the first quarter en route to 36 for the contest.
The Lions had 20 possessions in the first quarter, but only attempted six shots due to the Crusaders’ ball-hawking defense.
Five of St. Monica’s first six field goals were set up on turnovers, including a lay-up from Molly Hagan (10 points and five steals) off a steal and assist from Kayla Grimm with 1:44 left as the Crusaders led, 13-0.
Le Lycee’s only field goal of the quarter came on a jumper from Hannah Kierszenbaum with 1:21 left, which cut the Lions’ deficit to 13-2.
There was no let up from St. Monica, however.
The Crusaders answered with a six-footer from Elena Ford off an assist from Therese Boles and, fittingly, another Hagan layup off a steal from Boles with 20 seconds left that gave the Crusaders a 17-2 lead after one quarter.
“We feel that we’re in better shape than most of the teams in league, so we force turnovers, push the pace and get transition baskets,” said Boles, who finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.
Ford led all players with 12 points and seven rebounds and tallied six points in a second quarter in which the Crusaders outscored Le Lycee, 10-5, and took a 27-7 lead into halftime.
“This is one of those game that can be difficult, but I like how we kept playing hard,” Smith said. “Sometimes your shot is not going to fall or you’re going to commit turnovers. You can still hustle and play hard and that’s what we did.”
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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com
Twitter: @campadresports
