Following a 67-23 road win over the Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals, the Trinity Knights girls’ basketball team has extended its Heritage League winning streak to 71 games along with a 12-game winning streak to end the regular season.
“We have a lot of love for SCCS, and we all play for something bigger than the final score. So, any chance we get to see them, it’s always fun,” said Trinity head coach James De Monbrun. “I was proud of our girls, and this gym is always loud, so it’s a fun environment to play in for sure.”
With the win over the Cardinals (12-12, 9-6), the Knights (22-6, 8-0) finished the Heritage League season with a perfect 8-0 record and achieved their eighth consecutive league title, dating back to the 2018-19 season.
Sophomore guard Noa Peña had another big night on the scoresheet as she recorded 32 points in the win along with six steals, four rebounds, and two assists to make it an all-around performance.
After the game, De Monbrun added that he’s grateful to have Peña on the team with her work ethic as she never misses an opportunity to keep getting better as the season goes on.
“She’s gotten a lot of notoriety this year for scoring because of her thousandth point, when the reality is she plays a complete game,” he said. “She scores, but she also defends the other team’s best player. She pushes the floor in transitions, and she rebounds. She creates opportunities for a teammate, and that was evident again today.”
Freshman Gracie Fillmore had an impressive night for Trinity with 12 points, six rebounds, and two steals.
With a team that is composed of mostly underclassmen and one junior and senior each, De Monbrun got to give a lot of other players some playing time throughout the game.
In total, nine players scored for the Knights and with already such a young team, De Monbrun is glad that a lot of players got to obtain experience that he knows will be valuable down the road.
“We have one senior, one junior, the other nine of our kids are underclassmen. So, every game is just an opportunity for them to get experience and take those lessons forward with them,” he said. “So, I’m excited for them that they get to enjoy the success and the fruit of all that hard work.”
The Cardinals were led by sophomore guard Eva Banke, who recorded seven points in the loss.
Despite the loss, the Cardinals remain in fourth place in the Heritage League and earned an automatic berth into the playoffs with a 9-6 record.
Both the Cardinals and Knights will be in this year’s postseason as representatives of the Heritage League but will still need to wait to see who and where they’ll be playing.
The playoff brackets for girls’ basketball releases Saturday with the first round set to begin on Thursday, Feb. 12.
De Monbrun said he’s excited for the playoffs to start, and despite the layover between games, the team will use the extended time off for team bonding and game planning so that the Knightshave the most momentum possible.
“We’re going bowling as a team on Friday, and we’re going to have some fun,” he said. “You know, you try not to do anything out of the norm when it’s time to gameplan. Just continue to do what you’ve been doing. Take everything one game at a time, prepare, go out and give your best effort, and control the controllables.”
