Bishop’s earns hard-fought win over Cathedral Catholic in girls basketball – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

The Bishop’s School and Cathedral Catholic High School have faced off a combined five times in the past six seasons. All five of those games have gone to the Dons.

But behind the big 17-point performance from junior guard Ayla Johnson, Bishops finally got the better of the Cathedral on Wednesday, winning 51-41 at home.

“Coming into this game, we knew Cathedral is a great team that is really well-coached. We just focused on what we could control.” Bishop’s coach Paris Johnson said. “We came in with the focus of bringing the energy and understanding when we work together as a five, we can be successful. This was a very good win for our girls.”

After a relatively quiet first three minutes of action, during which they scored just five points, the Knights quickly found offensive rhythm, scoring 19 points over the last 13 minutes of the first half.

Johnson connected on two of her team-high three 3-pointers in the first half. Down in the post, Kamaili Lasua and Moana Peterson gave the Dons fits, both logging six points in the paint in the first half.

Lasua and freshman power forward Maya Mahone took control of the paint defensively, helping to hold Cathedral to just 14 first-half points and less than 20% shooting from the field in the second quarter.

“Ayla is an X-factor for this team. With one of our dominant scores in Margo (Leong) out, she had to step up, and they were allowing her to get to what she likes to do, which is get open threes or penetrating and getting to a mid-range shot,” Johnson said.

Bishops built on its lead in the second half, going on an 11-2 run over the first 1 minute, 45 seconds of the second half. The run was spearheaded by a pair of three triples by junior Kali Mahone that helped the Knights grab hold to a commanding 35-16 lead.

The Dons countered with 15-3 run of their own to draw things closer at 38-31. But ultimately, Bishops would hunker down and close things out.

Over the final eight minutes, Maya Mahone went to work, scoring six critical points in the fourth quarter. And the Knights’ zone defense once again bottled up the Dons, holding them to just 10 points in the fourth.

“On defense, our girls executed the gameplan well,” Johnson said. “Cathedral is a team that cuts to the basket and wants to get layups, but we knew we had to stop their A-game. We played well in our zone, and there were a few mishaps, but we corrected it like any adjustments in a game. I am proud that we were able to nail down the defensive execution.”