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Jordyn Norwood of Crean Lutheran brings the ball up in Saturday’s final. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano and Howard Lyon).
Crean Lutheran High School’s girls basketball team reached the finals of the Sunny Hills Tournament Saturday before losing to ML King High School 63-52.
“The final against King was a battle for sure, they (King) just couldn’t miss a shot,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Kyle Rouse. “Our girls played tough.”
Crean Lutheran (10-2) was led by Sydnee Norwood, who had 20 points. Jane Hewitt and Elise Randolph had 10 points each for the Saints.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Crean Lutheran won its first three games in the tournament against Yucaipa (55-42), Downey (60-31) and Rancho Cucamonga (53-50 in overtime).
“The Sunny Hills was a solid tournament and one that I was looking forward to for our group in order to be challenged,” Rouse said. “Fortunately we were able to get challenged.
“Yucaipa is a well coached team and always has been, we didn’t play our best basketball and they took advantage of that to keep things close. We finally strung some good possessions together and finished it strong. Against Downey, our defense wasn’t as great as we would have hoped, however with strong performances from Sydnee, Jane and Jordyn, we were able to have a strong second half to push us to the end.
“The Rancho Cucamonga game was the challenge I wanted for our group. They are athletic, quick, feisty and physical which we need to improve. Fortunately we got the challenge we needed and it took overtime to get the victory but they were a great opponent to prepare us for our tough league play in January.”
Rouse said the Saints were well prepared to take on King.
“In the championship against King, we knew it would be a battle, they are a very good and tough team. Overall I thought our game plan was solid and our girls executed well. We struggled shooting and pairing that with King shooting 40 percent from three-point range just didn’t help us to finish out the tournament with a win. Overall this tournament kept preparing us to reach our potential and we’re excited to take that into the Marina Tournament after Christmas.”
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