La Jolla Country Day girls romp to their third CIF basketball title in four years

The La Jolla Country Day School girls basketball team left little doubt about who’s the best in their sport in San Diego as the Torreys raced past Del Norte 86-27 on Feb. 25 to win the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship at Cathedral Catholic High.

The title is the second in a row for the Torreys and their third in four years.

The girls basketball victory capped a weekend championship trifecta for Country Day a day after the boys basketball team won the Division I title and the boys soccer team won Division IV.

Sports

La Jolla Country Day captures CIF championships in boys basketball and soccer

The girls basketball team will try to make it a trifecta on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The Torreys girls (29-3), seeded No. 1 in San Diego and ranked No. 5 in the nation by MaxPreps, jumped out to a 20-2 lead, led 29-8 at the end of the first quarter and 54-14 at halftime, with point guard Jada Williams hitting a half-court buzzer beater.

“Some games we start slow,” Williams said. “Today, the plan was to jump on them early. Play hard.

“This is an amazing finish. Back-to-back titles is amazing.”

Williams finished the game with 19 points — all in the first half as Torreys coach Terri Bamford played everyone on the roster early in the game.

Country Day had 10 players score, led by Williams and center Breya Cunningham, who also had 19 points.

Cunningham also had seven rebounds and started the fourth quarter with a three-point basket.

“Making a three-pointer has been my goal all season,” Cunningham said. “So it feels great.”

Tajianna Roberts added 13 for the Torreys while Safiya Sugapong had nine points and Sumayah Sugapong added eight.

“I’m glad so many girls got a chance to score,” Williams said. “Our backups work so hard in practice. We’re not as good a team without them. You can’t just have five players and be successful.”

Williams and Cunningham are seniors and will play next season at Arizona. They also have been named to play in the McDonald’s All-American girls basketball game in March and to represent the United States in the inaugural Women’s Nike Hoop Summit in April.

Junior Bailey Barnhard led seventh-seeded Del Norte (20-10) with 19 points.

“It was a blessing to be on the court with girls who are going to play at a Power 5 school,” Barnhard said, referring to the five biggest and most competitive college athletic conferences. “Despite the score, it was fun, an opportunity to play a great team.”

The Torreys advance to the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Open Division.

After a first-round bye, they will host No. 3 Etiwanda in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 4.

The Open Division tournament will continue with the regional championship game Tuesday, March 7, and the state final Saturday, March 11.

— La Jolla Light staff contributed to this report. ◆