Southern Section Basketball Playoffs : 3-A Girls : Almost Perfect Night for Brea’s McDaniel : Guard Hits 15 of 16 Shots in Victory

Aimee McDaniel made 15 of 16 shots and scored a season-high 35 points to lead top-seeded Brea-Olinda High School to an 86-40 victory over St. Lucy’s of Glendora Thursday in a Southern Section 3-A girls’ basketball quarterfinal game at Brea.

McDaniel, a junior point guard who also had three assists, scored 11 of her points in the first quarter as Brea-Olinda (24-2) jumped to a 26-11 lead after scoring the game’s first seven points.

McDaniel missed her second shot from the field 1 minute 57 seconds into the game when she failed to connect on a layup. She then made her next nine shots and finished the half with 24 points.

McDaniel made five more shots in the third quarter before Wildcat Coach Mark Trakh took her out of the game with 20 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

“Before the game, Coach reminded us of what happened in the quarterfinals last year (when Brea-Olinda lost to Los Altos at home),� said McDaniel, whose previous high was 28 points against Valencia on Jan. 10. “That got me psyched up because I didn’t play very well that game and I was determined that it was wasn’t going to happen again this year. I just kept shooting the ball and it just went in.�

Said Trakh, whose team will play Lakewood St. Joseph in Saturday’s semifinals: “She took it upon herself to get us going, and she did that. She and (Tammy) Blackburn both had very exceptional games.�

Blackburn, who scored 12 points in the first half as the Wildcats took a 51-27 lead, finished with 18 points. Jinelle Williams added 11 points, five in the Wildcats’ 7-0 game-opening spurt.

“We just tried to get into the rhythm of the game, but if you get down, 7-0, that kills you,� St. Lucy’s Coach David Confair said. “There were times that we played really good defense against McDaniel, but she still put the balls in the basket. That’s what happens when you have a shooter who’s on a roll like she was.�

Kristin Triepke scored 15 points and Jennifer Allen added 10 to lead St. Lucy’s (19-9).

The game was the last at Brea-Olinda’s campus site on Brea Boulevard. The Wildcats, who play their semifinal game on a neutral site, will play their home games next season on their new campus located near Lambert Road.