PORTLAND -- Off to a 7-0 start this season, Jesuit’s girls basketball team was ready for a big test against a top team in the power-packed Pacific Office Automation Holiday Classic at Franklin High School.
The Crusaders got it Thursday night with an opening-round game against Sierra Canyon, and although they lost 61-47, they left encouraged about how they performed against one of the best teams in California.
“I thought it was a really good opportunity to show the state who we really are against some good competition,” Jesuit senior guard Anna Fanelli said. “We’ve played good teams, but Sierra Canyon is definitely the best team we’ve played. Metro League will be tough, so it’s a good eye-opener.”
Jesuit, ranked fifth in the OSAAtoday 6A coaches poll, took a 15-8 lead as junior Kailynn Tuck made two three-pointers. That was the high point for the Crusaders, though, as Sierra Canyon (13-0) took control.
Behind guards Vanessa De Jesus and Ashley Chevalier, the Trailblazers went on a 16-0 run to pull ahead 24-15. From there, the Crusaders never seriously threatened, although they never backed down.
“I thought we did scrap,” Jesuit coach Jason Lowery said. “I just told our girls, ‘I don’t think we lost, I think we got beat.’ I’m OK with getting beat by a good team that does good stuff. They’re fast. They’re quick. They have a quickness that our state doesn’t really see.”
De Jesus finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals and Chevalier added 14 points and five steals for Sierra Canyon, which advances to play No. 10 Grant in a Platinum bracket semifinal at 8 p.m. Friday.
“We don’t give excuses, but we got slow,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki said of her team's sluggish start. “It was a travel day for us, we had a layover, and we got in at 3:30.
“So I just think we had to get our feet going. We hadn’t played in almost a week, so I think that was the biggest thing for us. We just had to get going a little bit. And I think they like to play fast usually, but we love to play fast. So we wore them down as time went on.”
The Trailblazers made Jesuit pay for its mistakes.
“We had a couple of bad turnovers, and they are lethal in transition off turnovers and bad shots,” Lowery said. “They were able to get going, get their rhythm. I thought their rhythm was a little tight out of the gate, with traveling. So they kind of got their legs under them and made a nice run after we jumped on them early.”
Fanelli had 14 points, five assists and three steals to lead Jesuit. She scored 13 points in the second half when she had a change in mindset.
“I feel like as a senior, I need to step up sometimes and take control of the game,” Fanelli said. “Sometimes I just have to attack. We have good shooters on the outside … so it’s nice to have them there, so when I attack, I either draw people or I can get to the basket.”
Jesuit trailed 51-32 late in the third quarter but showed some grit with a 9-2 run to pull within 53-41 with 5:28 left. Fanelli had three free throws and converted a steal into a basket during the surge.
“I think the nerves kind of got to us in the first half, but definitely in the second half, we settled down,” Fanelli said. “We were able to see that we can hang with some of the best teams.”
Sierra Canyon turned back the mild Jesuit uprising with back-to-back three-pointers by Amanda Olinger and Haylie Wright to lead 59-41.
Senior guard Elsa Hookland and junior guard Taylor Freeman added nine points each for Jesuit, which meets No. 6 Sheldon in a consolation game at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
