Get well soon, El Camino: Injury and illness taking toll on Lady Colts

While the Colts (3-5) didn’t convert either of the and-1 free throws (it was just that kind of night for head coach Mike Morla’s squad) the way the young roster celebrated after a foul call on 5-7 sophomore Moor Tiahlay’s put-back was a rare and welcome sight near the end of the game — El Camino’s first in a tough stretch of three games in five days.

“It was fun just seeing them (have fun),” Morla said. “I moved up a sophomore, because ... this team, we don’t have size. So, slowly improving her first time varsity. Only her second year playing basketball. So, that’s what got the team hyped.”

The recent addition of Tiahlay was a necessary one after El Camino was struck with a recent flu outbreak. Only six Colts players were on the practice court Wednesday. Adding to the personnel woes, senior Keilani Der, the team’s top player, has been hampered by a knee injury since the outset of the season and did not play Thursday.

“I think her not being there — she’s a four-year varsity starter, she’s the leader of this team, she’s our best rebounder, our best defensive player — so I think that hurts us a lot,” Morla said.

El Camino has turned to another sophomore, point guard Bella Fernandez, to shoulder the load during Der’s absence. A second-year varsity starter, Fernandez touts a strong dribble, a fantastic motor, and she’s certainly got the look with the coolest headband in school — a look she cultivated beginning in middle school after a haircut forced the basketball lifer to contend with new bangs.

It’s a tall order for the 5-2 Fernandez to carry the team without her sharp-shooting counterpart, Der. Fernandez made two early buckets — the first pushing El Camino’s fast start to a 4-0 lead; the second closing a deficit, after Washington’s seven-point run, to 7-6 — before the Eagles’ defense collapsed on her relentlessly.

Fernandez finished with a game-high nine points, but El Camino shot an abysmal 19.1% from the field throughout.

“I feel like it’s a lot more difficult, especially because Keilani is a huge part of our team,” Fernandez said. “And we definitely as a team need to work on our team chemistry, and step it up to motivate each other to continue working hard.”

Eight different Washington players scored in the contest, as the Eagles shot at a 26.5% clip. They went on runs of 7-0 and 14-2 to close the first quarter, and extended the run into the second quarter before El Camino sophomore Yue Yang scored a transition layup to make it 18-8.

Fernandez followed with a splashdown 3 from up top with 10 seconds to go in the half, seemingly giving the Colts some momentum in cutting the deficit to 18-11. But Washington fired right back, as Yuki Hata-Ventimiglia drilled a step-back 10-foot jumper as time expired to put the wind back under the Eagles’ wings heading into halftime.

It took El Camino nearly six minutes into the second half to score again when senior Abby Garrone connected from the corner; but even that stifled El Camino’s momentum, as the apparent 3-point distance was ruled a 2 with Garrone’s toe on the arc. With the Colts trailing 26-15 heading into the fourth, Washington opened the final quarter on a 7-0 run before Fernandez scored on a dribble-drive floater with three minutes to play.

“I always take it to the basket, I try my best to drive,” Fernandez said. “And if it’s not open, I won’t force it, I’ll kick it out. And that’s when I get those assists in.”

Fernandez was involved in both El Camino’s late and-1 tries. The first one was off her missed 3, but Tiahlay used one of her game-high 13 rebounds to go back up through contact and connect for her only points of the game. The Colts’ next time down the floor, Fernandez picked up the assist on a shuffle pass to sophomore Lhian Dela Cruz, who drilled a 3 for the game’s final points with 1:33 to play.

“I think once we get [Der] back — like I told the girls, these next two weeks are crucial,” Morla said. “Because we’re not going to have anybody sick, I hope, and then we can finally practice as a whole team.”

El Camino has two more tough games before Christmas, traveling to undefeated Notre Dame-Belmont for a Saturday tipoff at 1 p.m. Next Monday, the Colts host Mountain View at 7 p.m.