Hillsdale girls' basketball in fine form

“I wasn’t expecting to shoot that, but I just saw that it was open … so I just put it up there,” Fong said.

The shot was no fluke as Fong excelled throughout, scoring a game-high 21 points, including 14 in the first half and 10 in the opening quarter. As for the dancing moves, however, she couldn’t really explain the pirouette.

“Nope, not a dancer,” Fong said.

She is a competitor, though.

And the fourth-year varsity senior fronts a Lady Knights squad that touts plenty of experience. Hillsdale (10-1) had two other seniors in its starting lineup Wednesday in Jaelee Wilson and Ruby Jones, and the team’s two starting juniors — Makena Nitao and Kira Wilmurt — are three-year varsity starters. Junior forward Camryn Low was out of action but gives the Knights another junior three-year varsity starter.

“We struggled when they were freshmen, and it’s kind of evolved to the point where now they have experience where they can kind of step in and be leaders on the court,” Hillsdale head coach Dave Ichiki said. “And that’s kind of helped us a lot to put it together this year. So, definitely the team chemistry this year is good.”

Fong wasn’t the only Hillsdale player to get off to a fast start. The Knights outscored the Warriors 25-7 in the opening quarter, while Wilmurt totaled 10 her 15 overall points in the period. Nitao totaled 12 points and six assists.

“I think in maybe half or more of our games, we’ve gotten off to a fast start,” Ichiki said. “And we’ve tried to stress ball movement on the offensive side. Just trying to keep things simple on the defensive side. The main thing for us really is establishing the defensive side because we’re kind of undersized. So, if we don’t do those things very well, then we’re going to have a hard time with giving up second-chance points.”

South City (5-2) has enjoyed its share of landslide wins this season. The Warriors won five of their first six to open the year, including victories of 48-19 over San Jose; 52-16 over Holy Names-Oakland; 63-10 over Marshall-SF; and 47-17 over Design Tech.

Sophomore guard Abreana Hodge paced South City with 10 points at Hillsdale.

“We didn’t move the ball around like we planned,” South city head coach Blaise Brescia said. “We had two days of practice and we were all supposed to be involved. We didn’t move the ball around as best we could. Abreana is consistent. She is a basketball player. She loves the game, she respects the game, and she puts time in on and off the court. So, you can tell when it’s game time, she’s a gamer.”

Hillsdale’s perimeter defense was dialed in, with Fong and Nitao leading an impressive disparity of turnovers. Paced by Fong’s five steals, the Knights totaled more steals (18) than they did turnovers (9).

“We’ve actually been pretty good at forcing turnovers,” Ichiki said. “I think the problem has been really giving up the turnovers going the other way. Sometimes we get a little too relaxed with the ball, or we’re trying to go a hundred miles per hour and create something spectacular on the other end and we cough it up. So, if we can control that — like today, that was a good example.”

The stacked PAL South

Wednesday’s win was Hillsdale’s final non-league tune-up before the Jan. 5 league opener at Woodside.

While the Peninsula Athletic League North Division has one clear favorite in returning league champion Half Moon Bay, the South Division has all the makings of a wild race. Entering into play Wednesday, seven of the 10 teams had overall records of .500 or better. Hillsdale, however, became the South’s first team to reach 10 overall wins.

“The PAL South is really tough,” Ichiki said. “From top to bottom … there’s always tough games. So, even in a year where you think you’re going to be No. 2 or No. 3, you could be easily 7, 8, 9, if a couple games don’t go your way. So, every game is tough.”

Brescia takes over at South City

The Warriors have moved forward since the departure of head coach Paul Carion by importing Brescia from the East Coast.

Brescia previously coached boys’ varsity basketball in Hartford Connecticut. He coached at Hartford Public High School and served as head coach at Two Rivers Magnet High School and Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy.

This marks his first year as a girls’ varsity head coach.

“It’s been an awesome experience,” Brescia said.

Women’s college basketball

No. 15 CSM 62, No. 19 Allan Hancock 58.

The Bulldogs led all the way, but Hancock closed to within 2 with 30 seconds left on a pair of three-point plays.

CSM had led, 58-50 with 45 seconds left.

Hancock fouled Tiare Nofera-Paaga with just under 20 seconds to play, who hit both free throws for a 60-56 CSM lead. Erica Mendiola iced the game for the Bulldogs with a pair from the line with just over 13 seconds left to play.

CSM (10-2) was led by team scoring leader Chiara Brown, who finished with a game-high 22 points. Mendiola added 15 points, while Brittney Lewis added three 3s to finish with nine.

Alexandria Paquet led Hancock, finishing with 18 points.