The Lawndale Cardinals girl’s basketball team has a 17-7 overall record after defeating the Inglewood Sentinels 65-14 on Friday. However, the Sentinel boys basketball team avenged their female counterparts with a 100-64 victory over the Lawndale boys.
Cardinals sophomore Harmony Harris was elected MaxPreps Player of the Game. Freshman Amira Townes led Lawndale with 16 points; she was one of three Cardinals who scored in the double digits.
“We have hype energy, we’re always happy when another person scores,” Townes said. “We don’t want to make it the main people scoring, we want everybody to score.”
Junior Telayia Fuller sank a three-pointer to put the Cardinals on the board first. She ultimately led Lawndale with 11 rebounds, six assists, and three blocks, scoring 14 points. Lawndale implemented a physical defensive effort throughout the matchup. It helped keep the Sentinel score low as they found their rhythm on offense.
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Lawndale created a run in the third phase while double-teaming and trapping Inglewood on defense.
“Third quarter, we came in and we had fun,” Townes said. “We played ‘Dale defense.”
When the Sentinels implemented a stronger defense; the Cardinals focused on keeping their composure, according to Fuller.
“That’s one thing we always work on in practice, trapping each other, going through it in practice,” Fuller said. “When it gets to the game, our composure is kept cool.”
Lawndale made 21 steals and nine blocks in the effort. They won 11 of their last 13 games. Lawndale also dominates the Ocean League with a 6-0 record.
To maintain their dominance, the Cardinals know that defense is important.
“I feel like defense makes it easier on offense when we step up our defense,” Fuller said. “Going out on the defensive end makes the offensive end 10-times easier.”
The Inglewood boys improved to a 22-6 overall record after their victory. Sentinel senior Parker Jefferson was named Max Preps Player of the Game for scoring 38 points and 10 rebounds.
As of Friday, the Sentinels lead the Ocean League with a 7-0 record.
Inglewood had an 8-2 run to start the game before Lawndale found their stride on offense. An 11-point run gave the Cardinals a lead but Inglewood would finish the first quarter ahead 24-19.
“We just kept playing, still kept playing hard,” said Sentinel junior Cayim White. “We have to find our rhythm, figure out what we need to do, how to adjust. As the game kept going, as we fast forward through, we figured it out.”
Lawndale senior Jamier Moore rallied in the second quarter but Inglewood scored 32 points in the phase. Jefferson landed key shots for Inglewood in the early minutes of the third quarter.
“We went into halftime, we had to rethink our plan a little bit,” said Inglewood sophomore David Conerly. “We know we had to hit [Jefferson] because he was pretty tall.”
White hit back-to-back three-point shots to extend the Inglewood lead late in the third quarter. He ultimately scored nine points, five rebounds and two steals.
“That’s what I do, I put the work in. My teammates trust me to hit those shots, so do my coaches,” White said. “They know what I’m capable of.”
