Hillsdale girls hand first-place HMB 1st PAL Bay Division hoops loss

With the win, the Knights maintain hold of third place in the Bay Division, a half game ahead of fourth-place Aragon. Head coach Dan Mori’s squad also climbs back to the .500 mark in league play, after falling to each Mills and Carlmont, the league’s two last-place teams, earlier in the season.

“We have been very inconsistent,” Mori said. “When we’re playing really well, we’re really tough to beat. But then we have a game where we shoot really poorly, we turn the ball over too much, we don’t rebound. It’s really matter of consistency.”

Senior forward Daniella Sierra led the Knights with a game-high 23 points and eight steals, leading her team’s sharp defensive game.

“She definitely set the tone,” Mori said. “And I think two key things happened. Offensively, she set the tone, but also defensively the team played more focused and engaged on the defensive end.”

Hillsdale’s defense collapsed on HMB center Zoey Lemoge, and got the 6-foot senior in foul trouble early.

“We did a really good job of defending her, playing help defense on her ... but we were able to recover out to the 3-point shooters,” Mori said.

Junior center Lola Jones scored just two points on the offensive end, but denied countless others. Lemoge was in foul trouble from the outset, including Jones absorbing three offensive fouls from the reigning PAL Bay Division Co-Player of the Year. Lemoge sat for much of the first half, and ultimately fouled out in the fourth quarter.

“I think [Jones] played her best game,” Mori said.

Senior reserve Nicole Moita de Deus was also tasked with defending Lemoge for several minutes, and enjoyed a breakout game, totaling five steals in limited minutes.

Moita de Deus is in her first year of high school basketball after securing an NCAA Division I women’s soccer scholarship to play at San Jose State.

“She really was hassling the other team and using her athleticism to keep them off balance, and it was just a tremendous defensive effort on her part,” Mori said.

Lily Corkish and junior Adison Wilmurt added seven points apiece for Hillsdale. HMB sophomore Lindy Villalobos scored a team-high 13 points.

Both teams were playing back-to-backs. HMB won its Tuesday matchup at Mills 65-59, while Hillsdale was coming off a 46-40 loss to Carlmont.

“I just want to say how proud I was of the team after we played such a poor game against Carlmont,” Mori said, “the resilience we showed to not hang our heads ... and play a lot stronger against Half Moon Bay.”

The loss for HMB (7-1, 15-4) impacts the top of the PAL Bay hierarchy, as M-A moves into a first-place tie with the Cougars. HMB and M-A meet Feb. 13 on the Coastside in a game that projects to determine the league champion. The Cougars won the first meeting between the two last week in a 51-49 thriller.