Cunningham, the 6-4 La Jolla Country Day post headed to Arizona, was fronted and smothered by the Etiwanda defense all night, but still managed a 20-point effort.
However, all the attention paid to Cunningham allowed her teammates the chance to step up and deliver. And they did.
Williams was a spark plug for LJCD with 13 of her game-high 24 points in the first half while adding crucial buckets down the stretch. And Sugapong matched Cunningham's 20-point effort, all in the second half.
Etiwanda, meanwhile was led by
Kennedy Smith's 23 points as
Majesty Cade, who was red hot in the first quarter, finished with 17 and
Aliyahna Morris added 14 despite missing time in the third quarter in foul trouble. Meanwhile, Cunningham finished the last nine minutes of the game with four fouls, Etiwanda unable to draw the fifth on the La Jolla Country Day big.
Clinging to a 54-49 lead entering the fourth quarter, La Jolla Country Day also made 9-of-13 free throws in the period.
Williams hit one of her four 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter, but Morris scored on back-to-back possessions midway through the period to cut the Torreys lead to 59-55. Hemingway would hit a bucket one possession later to trim the edge to 60-57, but that's as close as the Eagles could come.
Jada Williams led No. 6 La Jolla Country Day to a 70-65 win over No. 10 Etiwanda on Saturday. Williams had a game-high 24 points. (Photo Darin Sicurello)
Cade opened the game on a torrid pace, dropping 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, taking advantage of the Torreys' zone. Etiwanda held a 19-13 lead after the first quarter as the Eagles' defense against Cunningham was paying dividends, as the Arizona-bound center had nine points, but they were earned. Smith did a great job fronting the 6-4 Cunningham, making the entry passes more difficult.
So with tough sledding in the low post, Williams took over on the outside, dropping 11 of her 13 first-half points in the second period. She hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Etiwanda lead to 24-23 before taking a charge on a possession after Smith hit a pair of free throws.
Her hustle turned into more offense as she scored the Torreys' next seven points on four freebies and a third triple that gave LJCD a 30-28 lead.
But Etiwanda had the answer with Cade hitting from the elbow, Smith converting all three free throws off a foul on a 3-pointer and then canning a 15-footer to take a 35-32 edge into the break.
