Rebounding machine

NEWPORT COAST — Nearly every time the ball came off the rim at either end of the court, a Sage Hill School player was in position to grab the rebound.

More often than not, that player seemed to be Lightning sophomore Hannah Jeffrey.

The 5-foot-11 forward tallied a career-high 19 rebounds, helping Sage Hill cruise to a 66-45 nonleague victory over Fairmont Prep on Wednesday at Sage Hill.

Jeffrey came off the bench midway through the first quarter and already had 10 rebounds at halftime. By then, the Lightning (8-5) owned a 32-22 lead. Senior point guard Katie McKeon (four points, five assists) helped the Lightning break the Anaheim-based Huskies’ full-court press all night long.

Sage Hill knew what to expect, McKeon said, because the teams had played on Dec. 17 at the Calvary Chapel-Downey tournament. Sage was also victorious in that meeting, 49-33.

“We did OK [in the first meeting], but we made a couple of modifications,” Lightning Coach Lou Silverman said. “It really helped us get some better looks at the basket.”

Fairmont Prep (9-6), which had a four-game winning streak snapped, was up, 9-8, late in the first quarter. But the Lightning scored 10 unanswered points to end the quarter and seize control, four of them from Jeffrey and four from junior guard Morgan Hembarsky (a season-high 12 points and 10 rebounds). Hembarsky had her outside game working, netting all of her points on jumpers.

“If I start missing, I get pretty upset,” Hembarsky said. “Katie’s normally the one who tells me to keep shooting, so I just listen to her.”

Junior forward Tierney Danner had a game-high 22 points for Sage Hill, 16 of those coming in the second half. She added nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Junior forward Stephanie Garrison had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the winners, who went 10 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Senior guard Jordan Hidalgo was scoreless but made her presence felt on the defensive end of the court. In a match-up of Jordans, the Huskies ran much of their offense through junior Jordan Esparza, but Hidalgo held her to just nine points before picking up her fourth foul midway through the third quarter.

“Jordan Hidalgo continues to just do a great job defensively for us,” Silverman said. “She doesn’t show up in the scorebook all that much, but what she does out there is pretty special. She’s kind of the unsung hero.”

Esparza did add nine more points in the fourth quarter, much of which was played at a frantic pace. But the Lightning upped their lead to as much as 25, on a layup by Danner with two minutes to go.

Sage Hill now prepares for its Academy League opener, on Friday at 6 p.m. at Capistrano Valley Christian. The Lightning are three-time defending league champions.

“I think we’re ready,” Danner said.

Nonleague

Sage Hill 66, Fairmont Prep 45

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fairmont Prep – Esparza 18, Lew 11, Masunaga 7, Sadakane 6, Feng 2, Fayssoux 1.

3-pt. goals – Lew 2, Masunaga 1, Esparza 1.

Fouled out – None.

Sage Hill – Danner 22, Garrison 15, Hembarsky 12, Jeffrey 9, McKeon 4, Hunt 2, Sullivan 2.

3-pt. goals – None.

Fouled out – None.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].