HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Aggies have fun, top Foothill

Arbor View girls basketball coach Donna Gentry gave her team a simple message before the start of the fourth quarter Saturday.

With her Aggies tied with Foothill after three quarters, the Aggie coach just hoped to relax her team.

“I told them, ‘Let’s play together, let’s have fun,’ Gentry said. “Sometimes they put so much pressure on themselves, and I wanted to say, ‘Hey listen it’s an even ballgame.’ I was just trying to take some of that pressure off, so they could just go and play their game.”

Gentry’s message was heard loud and clear, especially by Aggies’ center Dana Lewis, who scored 12 points of her 14 points in the second half to give Arbor View a 42-37 victory over Foothill on Saturday at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic at Centennial.

Lewis also had 12 rebounds and three steals for the Aggies, who shot just 4 of 14 from the free-throw line.

“She really picked it up,” Gentry said. “That’s what we need her to do. That’s what we expect from Dana.”

Arbor View (9-6) got started early, storming out to a 23-13 lead midway through the second quarter.

But the Falcons (10-4) fought back and went on a 10-0 run to close out the half.

Katey Roquemore started the run with a 3-pointer and a floater. Mikayla Yeakel then added a layup to cut the deficit to 23-20, and Ashley Walker beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer.

“We weren’t working hard,” Gentry said. “I think that we were still trying to work together defensively, and we just weren’t playing. I think some of the communication broke down.”

Ariona Gill accounted for most of Arbor View’s first-half offense. Gill had 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the first half, and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“She’s one of our leaders on the team with her play,” Gentry said. “I think she stepped up and showed that. I think the other girls do look up to her in a leadership role. She’s one of the scorers, she knows her role.”

Taylor Turney had 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Falcons, who got nine points from Kelsey McFarland.

Arbor View 61, San Clemente (Calif.) 52 — Lewis scored 16 points to lift the Aggies past San Clemente.

Caroline Rivera, Jocelyn Jordan and Amanda Embleton added 10 points apiece for Arbor View.

Kathleen Hartman led San Clemente with 14 points, and teammate Jessica DeGree scored 13.

Foothill 57, Santa Fe (Calif.) 31 — Turney scored 23 points, and the Falcons used a 29-0 run from early in the second quarter into the fourth quarter to top the Chieftains.

McFarland added nine points for Foothill, which trailed 25-12 before rattling off the next 29 points. Jillian Saiza’s runner with 7:07 left in the game ended the run.

Vivian Lara had 13 points for Santa Fe.

Centennial 58, Culver City (Calif.) 42 — Tramina Jordan had 15 points to lift the Bulldogs over the Centaurs.

Teirra Hicks recorded 12 points, Karina Brandon added 11 points, and Paige Barber scored 10 for Centennial, which stormed out to a 33-18 halftime lead. The Bulldogs used a 16-4 second quarter to open up the game.

Kelsey Ueda hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 16 points for Culver City, which also got 13 points from Kailey Tooke.

Centennial 55, Douglas 20 — Ivana Ganeva and Hicks scored 12 points apiece as the Bulldogs routed the Tigers.

Saniah Simpson added eight points for Centennial, which led 29-11 at halftime and was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.

McKenna Kynett led Douglas with seven points.

Liberty 44, Georgetown (Texas) 33 — At Centennial, Kealy Brown led all scorers with 17 points as the Patriotrs cruised by the Eagles.

Jazmin O’Bannon had eight points for Liberty, which led 23-17 at the break.

Taylor Green and Haley Frias each scored nine points for Georgetown.

Liberty 48, University (Calif.) 27 — Paris Strawther had 13 points to help the Patriots top University.

Brown added 12 points, and O’Bannon scored 11 for Liberty, which led 12-0 after one quarter.

Beckman (Calif.) 59, Palo Verde 37 — At Centennial, Lili Hamada had 16 points, and Janessa Paredes scored 11 as the Patriots downed the Panthers.

Twelve players scored for Beckman, which held a 35-9 halftime advantage.

Brooklyn Cruz scored 20 points for Palo Verde.

West Torrance (Calif.) 67, Palo Verde 29 — Jasmine Jones had 13 points as the Warriors ran away from the Panthers.

Bailey Kurahashi added 11 points for West Torrance, which led 13-11 early in the second quarter before closing the quarter with a 25-4 run.

Marci Goldberg led Palo Verde with 12 points.

University (Calif.) 50, Desert Pines 21 — Dana Bossenmeyer scored 15 of her team’s 20 first-half points to lead University to a blowout win over the Jaguars.

Bossenmeyer finished with 24 points, and Emily Reiland added 11 points for University, which outscored Desert Pines 30-7 in the second half.

Chrystian Myles led the Jaguars with 12 points.

Bonita (Calif.) 63, Desert Pines 25 — Alyssa Ono and Kandyce Smith led a balanced attack with nine points apiece as Bonita routed the Jaguars.

Jordan Bailey paced Desert Pines with nine points.