California uses defense to give Minerd 100th victory
California’s Kylie Trusler, right, works to keep the ball away from West Greene’s McKenna Lampe during Tuesday’s game at California High School.
California’s Bailey Vig gets past West Greene’s Kaitlyn Rizor to take the shot during Tuesday’s game. Vig had 15 points in the Trojans’ 51-37 victory.
CALIFORNIA – The California High School girls basketball team downed West Greene in a nonsection showdown Tuesday night, and in the process, gave Chris Minerd his 100th win as the Trojans’ head coach.
Despite the milestone, Minerd wanted to talk about the game, in which his team won, 51-37.
“This is a big win for us because (West Greene) is a good team,” he said while deflecting his accomplishment. “We turned up the defense and it showed.”
California (12-1) held West Greene’s three leading scorers, Kaitlyn Rizor, McKenna Lampe, and Madison Lampe, to 26 points, or exactly half of the 52 they average per game.
West Greene coach Jordan Watson thought the difference was the all-around play of California point guard Jenna Miller.
“She was the difference and I am tired of coaching against her,” he said of Miller. “Our press gives teams problems but it wasn’t as effective tonight and she had a lot to do with it.”
Miller finished with 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Minerd talked about the defensive pressure that his team faced.
“Their press is good but we did a decent job of limiting their scoring, and in turn their chances to press,” he said of his team’s 22 turnovers. “A lot of those turnovers were self-inflicted.”
After West Greene (9-2) jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the opening minutes, it went cold and California went on a 10-0 run to close the quarter and take a 12-5 lead.
“We had problems scoring in the first quarter, and when we don’t score, we can’t press,” Watson said. “I give Chris and his team credit as their defense is always solid and it gave us issues.”
California (12-1) scored the first three points of the second quarter to take a 15-5 lead, but West Greene fought to get back into the game. It used a 5-0 run late in the half to trim California’s lead to 24-18 at the half.
According to Minerd, his team could have been up even more if the Trojans didn’t have so many unforced turnovers.
“We travel with the ball with no defender on us, make bad passes, try to make no-look passes,” he said while shaking his head. “We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
Up 26-20 early in the third quarter, California went on a 6-0 burst and by the end of the quarter, it led 37-23.
West Greene, which is in a three-way tie for first place in Section 2-A, got no closer than 11 points in the fourth quarter. A 12-4 run by California midway through the quarter secured the win.
Despite the loss, Watson took a positive out of the loss.
“We have been in the same section as them for the last few years, so we know how good they are,” he said. “They are well-coached and a really good team and we are a better team for facing them.”
Minerd finally relented when asked again about the milestone and talked about the 100th win.
“I have been fortunate to have solid assistants and solid players,” he said. “This is as much about them as it is about me.”
Joining Miller with double figures for California was Bailey Vig (15 points) and Dominique Gaston (10) while Madison Lampe (10) paced West Greene.
Both teams return to their respective section for games Thursday as West Greene heads to Geibel in a 2-A contest while California heads to Bentworth for a 3-AA game.