Postseason strike is right

NEWPORT COAST — When Liberty Christian High first moved into Division IV-AA last season, the Minutemen made it to the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs, but their dreams were quashed in the first round.

This year, Sage Hill made sure they didn’t squeak by in the second, defeating the Minutemen, 53-39, Saturday night.

But the Minutemen, like Sage Hill’s first-round opponent, Desert Christian, came from a school with less than 130 students. They were just happy to still be in the game, even though Liberty Christian beat Sage Hill, 53-48, Dec. 8.

“Getting this far was a huge milestone for us,” Liberty Christian coach Bryan Speer said. “We’re the small team in the big pool.”

Tierney Danner outdid her 24-point preseason performance against the Minutemen, scoring 28 points and getting nine rebounds. It was her second-best offensive performance this year. The junior forward dropped 31 points against Laguna Beach Dec. 10.

“The two people we assigned to focus on her (sophomore center Brittany Armendiaz and junior wing Storme Caldin) ... they didn’t focus in on her in the beginning part of the game,” Speer said. They let her get going. We had to put a quicker guard on her.”

Danner was gone, all right.

She scored 15 of the Lightning’s 17 first-quarter points, and it cost the Minutemen dearly. It also helped Sage Hill advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday, when they will play at top-seeded St. Mary’s Academy of Inglewood.

Liberty Christian led once, after senior guard Sarah Franks’ jumper tied the score, 8-8. Armendiaz hit two free throws to make it 10-8 with 1:43 left in the quarter, but the Lightning bounced back and ended the quarter, 17-10. Armendiaz, who struggled inside against Danner and junior Stephanie Garrison, had six points. She was two for eight from the foul line.

Garrison had 16 rebounds and one block.

Making life hard for Armendiaz was part of the Lightning’s defensive strategy, but it wasn’t all of it.

“We recognized that all or their kids could score,” Sage Hill coach Lou Silverman said. “Our defensive strategy was to play up on all of their players and not allow any of them to really clean up. We know we’re tough to score on inside. We need to be tough to score on outside, too.”

Sage Hill went on an 18-0 run to lead, 26-10, halfway through the second half. The Minutemen never gained momentum, not even after senior guard Jordan Hidalgo’s intentional foul gave the Minutemen a chance for a four-point play and another possession. Senior guard Sarah Franks, who led the Minutemen with 13 points, missed both free throws.

The Minutemen shot 33% from the foul line on 15 tries. Sage Hill shot 67% at the free-throw line.

“Sage Hill came out with a lot more energy than we did in the first half,” Speer said. “We let that get us down in the early part of the game. That was a huge part of how they came out. We had way more energy the first time we played them, and they matched and exceeded that this time.”

CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA

Second Round

Sage Hill 53, Liberty Christian 39

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LC – Franks 13, Brue 10, Caldin 8, Armendariz 6, Kwan 2.

3-pt. goals – Franks 2, Brue 1.

SH – Danner 28, Hembarsky 9, Jeffrey 6, McKeon 4, Hidalgo 2, Hunt 2, Garrison 2.

3-pt. goals – Hembarsky 1.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].