No. 5
Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) took a 10-7 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back, beating No. 3
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 65-53 on Monday at the St. James MLK Classic in Northern Virginia.
Coming off a tough loss Saturday to No. 2
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), Sidwell Friends missed a handful of free throws in the opening minutes against Montverde. The Quakers grabbed an 8-7 lead as
Leah Harmon found
Khia Miller on a backdoor cut with 2:28 left in the quarter. Miller added a fast break bucket after a steal,
Jadyn Donovan added a banked-in 10-footer and Harmon's triple gave Sidwell a 15-7 lead after the first period.
Kendall Dudley led all scorers with 20 points, including 7 of 11 from the free throw line, while she added 13 boards. Harmon added 16 and Donovan scored 12 for Sidwell (10-2).
Montverde Academy (18-1) was led by 15 points from
Sahnya Jah while
Jordy Griggs and
Mjracle Sheppard each added 10. The Eagles, however, were 22 of 62 from the field (35 percent).
Sidwell Friends junior Kendall Dudley scored a game-high 20 points along with 13 rebounds in the No. 5 Quakers' 65-53 win over No. 3 Montverde Academy on Monday at the St. James MLK Classic. (Photo: Darin Sicurello)
Montverde trailed by 12 at intermission and 10 after the third period. Each time the Eagles would trim the Sidwell lead to single-digits, they were unable to sustain the push. Montverde Academy missed a handful of short looks as well as second-chance opportunities while the Sidwell Friends defense forced the Eagles into turnovers that the Quakers were able to capitalize on.
Following a
Jayla Jackson free throw to start the fourth quarter, Harmon led a Quakers fast break off a steal and found Jackson inside for a 46-33 lead. But an Eagles' 7-0 run a few minutes later in the period cut the lead to 51-42 as Jah finished the swing with a steal and bucket followed by a left-wing 3-pointer. She would cut the lead to eight, 54-46, with a basket before Dudley and Harmon created the final separation.
Dudley hit the front end of a one-and-one as Donovan grabbed the second shot miss and swung it out to Harmon who found Dudley in the paint for a 57-46 lead. Harmon then added the dagger, driving coast-to-coast through pressure for a layup inside and the 13-point edge with 90 seconds remaining.
Sidwell Friends have a national showdown against No. 13
Conway (Ark.) on Friday while Montverde has meets No. 1
Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) on Friday and No. 16 Morris Catholic on Saturday.
Morris Catholic (Denville, N.J.) 63, Etiwanda (Calif.) 54
The Crusaders erased a four-point, fourth-quarter deficit to hand the Eagles their first loss of the season.
Mia Pauldo led Morris Catholic with 19 as
Natalie Stoupakis added 13 and
Mya Pauldo chipped in 12 while
Alexis Rosenfeld scored 10 in the victory.
Kennedy Smith had a game-high 23 points for Etiwanda while
Aliyahna Morris chipped in 15 and
Sa'lah Hemingway added 10.
