Sierra Canyon girls basketball dominates Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland

CHATSWORTH — Sierra Canyon girls’ basketball could not be denied much in Saturday’s showcase game.

The Trailblazers were all over the boards on both ends, leading to dozens of second-chance points in the 86-52 win over the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons of Oakland.

O’Dowd (3-5) only had two defensive rebounds in the first quarter, and eight in the first half to Sierra Canyon’s 20.

Four Trailblazers finished with over four rebounds, including Payton Montgomery, who added 10.

“It’s just something that’s part of our culture,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki said of the rebounding discrepancy. “So we try to rebound in every position, not just size or size big. So trying to just have us have an offensive rebounding and a defensive rebounding.”

The Trailblazers (7-1) had a clear size advantage but didn’t need to bully the ball inside consistently as a hot start from sophomore Rosie Oladokun gave Sierra Canyon a quick lead. Oladokum hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and added 14 of her 17 points all in the first half. The sophomore also added eight rebounds.

“Rosie’s a fantastic shooter,” Komaki said. “We’re a really good three point shooting team, and she is a very good three point shooter. So that’s not a surprise at all. It was surprising that she missed a couple.”

The Blazers had no problem tearing through the Dragons’ full court press, with great ball movement leading to plenty of open shots and layups.

Senior Oregon commit Emilia Krstevski led Sierra Canyon with 18 points while Jerzy Robinson added 16 points with three steals and four rebounds. Krstevski also added seven rebounds and a trio of blocks.

UCI commit Delaney White added 9 points and eight assists for Sierra Canyon. Cherri Hatter totaled 11 points, two assists, a steal and block off the bench.

The Dragons played a much better game in the third quarter, but Sierra Canyon still had its way, getting open looks inside to Krstevski and Robinson.

Senior Jayla Stokes led O’Dowd with 22 points while Ohio State commit Myella Chapman finished with 11 points and three rebounds.

“We have we have four seniors that are going to play Division 1 basketball and a good young core,” Komaki said. “We have a lot of new kids in our program this year, so we’re still just trying to teach and learn, and we’re going to have some growing pains because of that. Even in our starting lineup, we have kids who whether they’re new to our program or just haven’t played a lot of minutes on the court for us. So it’s okay that we’re not at our best in December.”

Sierra Canyon has now won four straight, with its closest margin of victory being 16. The Trailblazers standards are higher than ever even after a win like Saturday’s.

“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in our team tonight. So yeah, we can’t give up that many points to another team. They played well. So credit to Bishop O’Dowd. That was not our finest basketball out there.”

Sierra Canyon will look to keep its momentum high with a ton of traveling before league play begins next month. The team will head out for three tournaments in the Bahamas, Palm Springs and Memphis, Tennessee to end a busy December schedule.

Komaki hopes the busy schedule and tough opponents will come to fruition in the end as the Blazers aim to win their eighth straight league banner and take home their second CIF title in three years.

“We want to win a championship ship that’s always our goal,” Komaki said. “All of the championships.”