A day after getting head coach James De Monbrun his 100th win in charge of the Trinity Classical Academy girls’ basketball program, his Knights gave him win No. 101 on Tuesday and put themselves one step closer to the Heritage League title.
“I’ve been really blessed with talented kids and supportive families who’ve bought into the vision of selflessness,” De Monbrun said. “And when you have that, those kids make you look a lot smarter than you are. So, it’s been a lot of fun, but I didn’t score a single point or grab a single rebound in any of those games.”
His 101st win on Tuesday was a close contest with crosstown rival Santa Clarita Christian, until it wasn’t.
With a four-point lead late in the second quarter, the Knights finished the first half on a 7-0 run on their way to a 61-31 win on the road and a season sweep over the Cardinals.
Freshman Noa Peña hit a buzzer-beat three to cap that first-half run for Trinity (18-3, 9-0). She finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior Cassady Freude added 17 points and six assists while senior Gianna Duarte had 12 points.
De Monbrun credited SCCS head coach Larry Sulham for the improvement of the Cardinals’ program in its third year since it was restarted.
It’s the third win for Trinity over the Cardinals this season. The two teams also met in tournament action before their two league games.
“SCCS is getting better, and Larry does a great job and his girls are committed, and they’re improving,” De Monbrun said. “And I told my girls, the third time you play somebody there’s no secrets anymore. They know who you are … We knew it was going to be tough, but you got to play 32 minutes.”
Trinity held the Cardinals to just two points in the third quarter and nine points total in the second half.
SCCS (12-7, 6-3) was led by freshman Mila Denison with 10 points, five rebounds and six steals. Sophomore Emily Hackett added six points, six rebounds and three assists.
“Trinity can shoot,” Sulham said. “If you don’t put pressure on the shots, they have a good chance of making them, so you’ve always got to pressure their shots, whether it’s going to the basket or a 3-pointer, pressure it and go from there. And then in the second half, the girls just, you could see it in them that just as they started pulling away, our girls started second-guessing themselves more and more, and they stopped moving the ball during that spurt.”
Trinity is nearing its seventh straight league title and the fifth under De Monbrun. The last two were forfeited to the Knights, but the other Heritage League teams decided this year to challenge Trinity.
And while the Knights are undefeated so far, things haven’t been as easy as they may appear. De Monbrun said Peña has been able to quickly acclimate herself to the high school level, and when her teammates are able to play their roles effectively, the Knights can roll as they did in the second half Tuesday.
“There are times when we need to force feed (Peña) the ball, because that’s the advantage, that’s the matchup,” De Monbrun said. “And then there’s times where we need to use the gravity that she brings, and she’s got to set the table for everybody else. And when girls are playing off of her and making shots and building confidence, then it becomes really scary, because she has the ability to go get hers.”
The Cardinals dropped to third place, behind Desert Christian in second, heading into Thursday’s games.
Trinity was set to travel to Desert Christian on Thursday, but that game was postponed due to the Hughes Fire that broke out Wednesday in Castaic. The Knights are slated to resume play Friday at home against Faith Baptist for what is set to be their senior night.
SCCS had a road matchup scheduled at Faith Baptist on Thursday.
