Windward Squads Advance to Finals

ANAHEIM – Behind a towering performance by junior center Imani Stafford, the Windward School girls basketball team defeated Fullerton Rosary 74-38 on Saturday night to earn a spot in the CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA championship game.

“Imani Stafford was huge tonight. She was just a monster,” Windward Coach Steve Smith said. “She played like the CIF Player of the Year tonight.”

Stafford finished with 21 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocks. She scored 10 points alone off putbacks of missed shots.

“It’s the semifinal game--go hard or go home right now,” Stafford said. The fact that “we played hard the entire four quarters is what got us this game tonight.”

The game was played at Servite High in Anaheim and the host Royals had their home fans behind them, but that didn't stop Windward from building a 19-10 advantage by the end of the first quarter. It seemed fifth-seeded Rosary (19-10) could’ve gotten back in the game if Windward let up a bit, but the top-seeded Wildcats (24-4) never did.

“They played hard; they forced us to play hard," Stafford said. "They were a worthy opponent.”

In the second quarter, the Wildcats began to pull further away. They increased their lead to 41-23 at the half and held Rosary to single digits in each of the final two quarters to finish with yet another lopsided victory. The Royals’ second half total of 15 points was less than the Wildcats' score in the third quarter alone.

Windward senior Milica Toskovic, who is heading to Dartmouth next year, scored 11 points, followed by junior Paris Baird with 10 points. Freshman Jordin Canada had nine points and sophomore Courtney Jaco also had nine points, all on three-pointers.

Julia Bradbury led Rosary with eight points.

The Wildcats will play second-seeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery in the title game on Thursday, Friday or Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center. On Friday night the Knights (22-9) rallied from a 13-point deficit late in the third quarter to edge Chaminade, 58-56. 

Windward defeated Bishop Montgomery 68-54 in a nonleague game Feb. 5.

Boys basketball

The Windward boys also advanced to the CIF-SS Division 4AA championship game, though their margin of victory over Alemany was a little slimmer: 79-67.

“We did a great job following the game plan for three quarters and then in the fourth quarter, I think we got a little comfortable,” Windward Coach Miguel Villegas said.

Alemany was the home team for Friday night's game, played at Hart High in Newhall, but the Wildcats were up 53-32 at one point in the second half. In the final quarter the third-seeded Warriors (20-11) turned up the full-court press. Windward had successfully overcome the press earlier in the game, but not this time, committing eight or nine turnovers in that quarter alone, Villegas said.

The Warriors went on a 15-5 run to pull within nine points, but Windward managed to hold them off. “We maintained our composure, which is the best thing,” Villegas said.

Junior Nick Stover had 26 points and a career-high 19 rebounds and Harvard-bound senior Wesley Saunders also had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Wildcats (23-7).

The other three starters also scored in double figures. Sophomores Charles Dawson and Jordan Wilson each had 11 points and junior Luke Silverman-Lloyd added 10.

“The great thing about the game is that we contained our man, rebounded the ball, and we didn’t turn the ball over until that fourth quarter,” Villegas said.

For Alemany, juniors Jerico Richardson scored 18 points, Marqueze Coleman had 15 points and Max Guercy added 12.

The Wildcats will play top-seeded Orange Lutheran in the championship game sometime this week at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Lancers (25-6) defeated Atascadero 75-63 in the semifinals Friday night.