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Villa Park’s girls basketball team sank 10 3-pointers in the first three quarters and held on defeat No. 5 JSerra 54-51 to win the Villa Park-Portola Kickoff Classic at Portola High on Saturday night in the biggest upset of the opening week of the season.
JSerra (3-1), the reigning CIF-SS Division 3A champion, entered the season ranked No. 5 in Orange County.
Unranked Villa Park (4-0), a Division 3A quarterfinalist last season, led by as many as 20 points in the middle of the third quarter before surviving a fourth-period surge by the Lions.
“We’ve built to this,” Spartans coach Brad Willis said of the triumph. “I don’t think I’ve ever coached a set of girls who have worked so hard.
Tournament MVP Bailey Roczey scored 18 points, including three 3-pointers in the first quarter, and added six assists to lead Villa Park.
All-tournament selection Sabina Patel added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and six rebounds. Madelyn Martinez chipped in 14 points, including three 3-pointers.
All three players are juniors.
Villa Park made 10 of 16 shots from beyond the arc through three periods and finished 10 of 20.
With JSerra raising its defensive pressure in the fourth period, the Spartans struggled with eight turnovers and didn’t record a field goal. They made 6 of 10 fouls shots in the final frame.
JSerra sank four 3-pointers in the fourth — two a piece by all-tournament selection Addie Nolan and Shae Talleur — to move as close as 53-51 with 33 seconds left.
“I’m really proud of them for that comeback,” JSerra coach Chyanne Butler said. “Not proud how we dug ourselves in a hole though. … We started off the game slow, not very intense.”
Nolan paced JSerra with 16 points, including four 3-points. Rosie Santos and Talleur added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Orangewood Academy transfer Vivian Grenald narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
On Friday, Villa Park edged Westview of San Diego 44-41 on a last-season 3-pointer by Olivia Sturdivant.
Other all-tournament selections includes Nina Saiki of Portola, Ellie Anderson of San Clemente and Bianca Carter of El Dorado.
In the Oxford tournament:
Fairmont Prep 72, St. Anthony 52: Adyra Rajan earned tournament MVP and Maria Mejia all-tournament honors as the No. 3 Huskies (4-0) claimed the tournament title. They play Sierra Canyon (1-0) at the Pacifica Christian showcase on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Other all-tournament selections from the Gold Division included Madi Lam of Santa Margarita, Anna Shreeve of San Juan Hills, Sarah Wang of Brea Olinda and Rylee Bradley of Marina.
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