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Foothill too tough for CdM

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SANTA ANA — The Corona del Mar High girls’ basketball team now has two college-committed soccer players on its roster.

CdM junior Kat Hess, a soccer goalie who is committed to Stanford, joined the Sea Kings hoops squad this week as she is ineligible to play high school soccer after transferring back to CdM. Hess joins Brianna Westrup, a senior guard who is a soccer defender committed to the University of Virginia.

Hess recently got back from a U.S. 18-and-under national team women’s soccer training camp in Chula Vista. Now, she’s hitting the hardwood as a 5-foot-11 forward.

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“She’s excited to play,” CdM Coach Mark Decker said. “She comes from a basketball family. I think when she gets her feet wet she’ll definitely help us ... We’re definitely deeper with [Hess and Westrup] here. I think it’ll make it more fun for us in the long run.”

Wednesday night’s game, however, wasn’t so fun. CdM fell to Foothill, 49-30, in a Segerstrom Tournament pool-play game at Segerstrom High.

Foothill wins the three-team pool, while CdM is second. The Sea Kings (5-2) will play Valencia in a tournament fifth-place semifinal Friday at 4:30 p.m. Foothill (5-1) moves on to the tournament semifinals, where it will play Woodbridge on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Knights are the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 1A preseason poll. They were ultimately too tough for CdM, ranked No. 4 in Division 3AA.

The 30 points were a season-low for CdM. Junior Natalia Bruening scored nearly half of them, 13, also chipping in 13 rebounds and five blocked shots. But Decker said CdM needed to get her even more touches.

CdM struggled with the Foothill press early on, scoring just three points in the first quarter.

“You know a really good team when they take advantage of every turnover you make, and they did,” said Decker, who was nonetheless proud of his team’s competitive spirit.

“We didn’t compete last week [in a 58-31 loss to Tesoro, ranked No. 9 in Division 2AA]. This week, we competed. I wish we could play Foothill every game. We need to play those games. That’s why I came to this tournament, so we could play teams like Foothill. That’s why we go to the Best of the West at Ayala [beginning Dec. 27], to play the best Inland Empire teams. We need to play those teams, to help us get better.”

Westrup had four points and four steals for the Sea Kings, and senior post player Alexa Pridemore also scored four. Freshman guard Tia Grippo made the team’s only three-pointer, a buzzer-beater at the end of the game.

But besides Bruening and Westrup, the Sea Kings got just three combined points out of their other three starters.

It was Hess who found Bruening in transition for a layup early in the second quarter, giving CdM its first and only lead of 9-8. But Foothill, led by senior center Kaylani Maiava, ended the first half strong to take a 22-14 halftime advantage.

Maiava and junior guard Sydney Sharp each scored 13 points for the Knights to match Bruening for game-high honors. Sharp scored all of her points in the second half, making a trio of three-pointers.

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Segerstrom Tournament

Pool-play game

Foothill 49, Corona del Mar 30

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Foot 8 – 14 – 15 – 12 — 49

CdM 3 – 11 – 9 – 7 — 30

Foot – Maiava 13, Sharp 13, Black 8, Varnadoe 5, Stevens 3, Bokosky 3, Pyburn 2, Karumbein 2.

3-pt. goals – Sharp 3, Black 1, Stevens 1, Bokosky 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – Bruening 13, Westrup 4, Pridemore 4, Grippo 3, Tam 2, Yoo 2, Hess 1, Anderson 1.

3-pt. goals – Grippo 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

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