St. Lucy Suffers Setback at Home in 55-25 Loss to Chino Hills

Nicole Zugasti, co-captain of s girls basketball team said one of her most memorable moments in her high school career thus far has been last season’s win over Chino Hills.

It’s been a different story this season so far as the Huskies (12-6, 2-0) soundly defeated St. Lucy’s 55-25 on Friday evening on the Regents’ home court.

The loss came in the wake of a 45-43 defeat to South Hills earlier in the week, dropping the Regents’ record to 9-7 overall and 0-2 in the competitive six team Sierra League.

After the Huskies went on a 6-1 run to open the game, the Regents briefly got back into their offense. Following a 3-point play by junior shooting guard Savannah Selby, St. Lucy’s was down 9-3 with 2:43 to play in the first period.

The Regents were outgunned by Chino Hills and their own shooters were effectively neutralized from that point on.

Selby still managed to lead her team in scoring with 13 points, but Zugasti and sophomore Brittany Young were limited to 3 and 4 points respectively.

The Huskies’ offensive attack allowed them to build on their 15-6 lead at the conclusion of the first period.

Leading 22-6 with 5:50 to play in the second period, they went on a 6-2 run and eventually increased their advantage to 32-10 by halftime.

 The second half was equally productive for Chino Hills as they finished the third period leading 43-16 en route to a 30 point win.

After the game, Coach Mondo Lanier reflected on the strategy the team opted to utilize against the Huskies.

 “We thought that if we slowed the game down and if we were methodical about the press-breaking, [the team would have success] but the girls just threw the ball away numerous times,” Lanier said.

Lanier added once the Regents got down, it was mentally difficult for them to get back in the game.

 “That’s half the game plan right there,” he said, “Half our game plan was to slow down their shooter, number 24. (Casey Zinn) and she only had seven points…The other guard, number 32 (Cynthia Vargas) she only had six.”

However, the Huskies’ senior point guard Chariah Harris, who came into the game averaging 11 points per game and eight rebounds, nearly doubled her season’s average.

“So half the game plan worked, but the other half didn’t," said Lanier. "Harris had 21 on us, although most of those were put backs, not jump shots.”

Lanier called the game “horrendous” and said, “The girls, mentally they were gone, we were just a mess.”

Zugasti, the lone senior on the team said the Regents’ attack lacked the cohesiveness of a total team effort.

“I tried really hard to keep my head in the game, my teammates did as well, but I kept playing defense to try and rebound some stuff, but it has to be the whole team, not just one person, or eventually we all fall,” she said.

Zugasti said St. Lucy’s has to keep fighting to get back into contention in the league.

“We were trying to run a box-and-one against their shooter, that worked, she didn’t have her usual game, but everybody else has to work together and that didn’t happen, so we just have to keep working on that,” she said.

Next the Regents will try to regroup on the road against Charter Oak on Wednesday. Tip off is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.

Box Score:
Chino Hills (55) Chariah Harris 21, Ariana Pyles 8, Casey Zinn 7, Cynthia Vargas 6, Eleeza Owens 4, Lindsey Crawford 4, Lauren Cody 3, Christina Tustin 2.

St. Lucy's (25) Savannah Selby 13, Brittany Young 4, Nicole Zugasti 3, Mary Serafin 3, Sam Rogan 2.

Other girls basketball box scores:
Glendora High School vs. Rancho Cucamonga

Rancho Cucamonga 64, Glendora 19

Rancho Cucamonga (64)
Kourtney Ainsworth 18, Breana Baker 14, Gaby Johnson 8, Stephanie Horgan 7, Elizabeth English 5, Janelle Boyona 4, Kiana Matthews 3, Bernadette Townsend 3, Erica Evans 2. 

Glendora (19)
Casie Lowden 13, Emily Hoey 2, Alysa Ortega 2, Violet Montalbo 2.