JSerra's Girls Basketball Team Advances to Quarterfinals

JSerra High's girls basketball team allowed its opponent, St. Joseph of Lakewood, to make more than 80 percent of its field goals from layups or shots within six feet of the rim, but the young Lions also forced 20 turnovers and made 20 of 29 free-throw attempts for a 57-45 victory in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4A playoffs Saturday night at JSerra High.

The third-seeded Lions will play Santa Ynez, the Los Padres League champion and 48-45 winner over Whitney on Saturday, in a quarterfinal game Wednesday at Santa Ynez High, which is located about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara.

JSerra (11-17), with no seniors on the team, advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009, when they reached the semifinals. Last season, they were eliminated in the second round.

“We’re in the elite eight,” JSerra coach Mary Rossignol said. “It’s a huge step. You know, [we have] five freshmen, three sophomores and three juniors. It’s a huge win for the school and for the program. I’m so proud of these guys. They’ve put a tremendous amount of work in and now is when it pays off.”

Rossignol said that junior guard Samara Hanna, who is the Lions' second-leading scorer at 10 points per game, should be able to play Wednesday. She was out Saturday because of illness.

Junior guard Jenna Morris led all scorers with a season-high 18 points. She made four of 11 three-point attempts, the biggest of which came with 2:53 left to play. Morris found herself wide open in the corner, thanks to a dribble-drive by August Touchard, who kicked it to her and she buried the shot for a 48-38 lead.

The Jesters (16-13) cut their deficit to 48-41, but that's as close as they would get. St. Joseph, an all-girls Catholic school, was reduced to fouling the remainder of the way, but the Lions made them pay for that strategy.

August Touchard, the Lions’ leading scorer with a 14.5 average, had 17 points to provide a potent 1-2 punch with Morris. Touchard made 11 of 16 free-throw attempts and drew two three-point plays with forays into the lane. The first came with 4:55 left in the third quarter that gave her team a 35-27 lead, and the second with 5:01 left in the fourth that pushed that lead to 45-35.

"We made good shots tonight and Jenna being a junior, she just took the team on her back and August shows up every game," Rossignol said. "It was a great twosome tonight.”

Morris made three three-pointers in the first half, when the Lions took a 32-22 lead. She made one of her threes during an 8-2 run in the middle of the second quarter that stretched JSerra’s lead to 28-19.

“Augie was passing really well to me and we’ve been practicing a lot on their defense," Morris said. "So practice makes perfect, and we knocked down open shots and it helped us win the game.”

Morris had three steals and helped force a number of the Jesters’ 15 turnovers in the first half.

“We’ve been practicing defense all year round and we’ve been practicing the same defense so we’re perfect at it by CIF,” Morris said. “We were all working together, so we all did really great on it.”

JSerra's zone trap had two guards at the top, with two other players anticipating passes at the wings. At times the Lions set up shop right in front of St. Joseph players, and when passes were forced, JSerra's players were waiting to scoop up steals.

But St. Joseph players were still able to beat JSerra several times for aggressive drives through the lane for layups.

“We ran probably three or four different defenses,” Rossignol said. “We tried to pressure them up top [of the key]. So, sometimes we got beat down low. We tried to trap the first pass, and sometimes you give up weakside baskets.”

Touchard was able to take the Lions home, as she made four free throws with less than two minutes remaining. She struggled from the field, making only two of 14 attempts.

“I was able to hit my [free-throw] shots really well tonight,” Touchard said. “I tried to get the ball around the perimeter, and when it came back to me, and the defense was shifting, I went the opposite way of where the defense was coming, and usually there was an open gap. I got to the basket, got fouled, and I was hitting my free throws tonight.”

St. Joseph played better than the score indicated, as its defense forced 15 turnovers. Imee Uy scored 11 points, Viviana Rios added 10 and Beth Lyon eight.