Bishop Gorman girls basketball defeats Faith Lutheran

It didn’t take long for Bishop Gorman’s girls basketball team to set the tone Wednesday night at Faith Lutheran.

Gorman’s pressure defense forced several Faith Lutheran turnovers, and by the time the Crusaders made their first field goal late in the first quarter, the Gaels had a 10-point lead.

It wouldn’t get any closer. Gorman, No. 1 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, rolled to a 67-31 road win over Faith Lutheran.

Sophomore point guard Aaliah Spaight led Gorman with 18 points and was one of eight Gaels who scored.

“They looked for each other. I think that’s a trait of a good team — when they play for each other,” Gorman coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. “Our defense was solid. We were scrappy and made (Faith Lutheran) take very difficult shots.”

Freshman guard Anna Barragan added 16 points for Gorman (9-3, 2-0 5A Southern League), and freshman guard Kenzee Holton scored 14.

Spaight scored six second-quarter points, and her running floater right before the halftime buzzer snapped a 2:30 scoring drought to give Gorman a 34-18 lead over the Crusaders (7-6, 1-1).

“She hasn’t even reached any of what she can do yet. That’s the exciting part,” Krmpotich said of Spaight, who holds notable Division I offers from UNLV and Brigham Young. “She didn’t play last year, and she’s already a top-100 kid in the nation. She’s just playing her heart out for this team.”

The Gaels picked up where they left off in the third quarter, scoring six straight points and forcing a pair of Faith Lutheran turnovers in less than a minute. The Crusaders scored all four of their third-quarter points at the free-throw line.

“Our defense is our catalyst,” Krmpotich said. “There’s no excuse for a bad defense. You can have a bad offensive game, but you can’t have a bad defensive game. That’s what we’re trying to instill in our team is that defense and rebounding wins championships.”

Barragan drilled three 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter, which put the game at the running clock. The Gaels made five of their 10 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Emma Herpin paced Faith Lutheran with 10 points, and Tamiah Harrison scored nine.

Krmpotich is in the first year of her second stint as Gorman’s coach. She won 477 games and four state titles with the Gaels from 1998-2016.

Four of Gorman’s top seven scorers are either freshmen or sophomores, with Spaight averaging 16.1 points per game and Holton second at 11.7. Krmpotich said she’s been impressed with the versatility of her young group, which she said can score in a variety of ways.

“We’re young, but we’re very talented. I love them,” Krmpotich said. “They work hard for us and each other. Once we put everything together, we’re going to be dominant, and that’s exciting.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.