DEL SOL TOURNEY: Red-hot Turney leads Falcons to title

By its own admission, Foothill’s girls basketball team was less than razor sharp on offense Saturday.

With the exception of sophomore Taylor Turney.

A 5-foot-7-inch wing, Turney hit four 3-pointers and made 12 of 13 free throws to push the Falcons past Arbor View 53-37 in the championship game of the Season Tip-Off Tournament at Del Sol.

“You could tell (Friday) night it had been 9½ months since she put up a shot in a competitive game,” Foothill coach Eric Kruger said. “She’s much more of a vocal leader this year. She’s really growing as a player. She doesn’t have to be the leading scorer every night.”

Turney finished with a game-high 24 points after scoring 22 earlier Saturday in a semifinal win over Rancho.

Her four 3-pointers came during a 28-8 run, in which Turney scored 14 points. Turney’s first 3-pointer erased Arbor View’s only lead of the night with 2:30 left in the first quarter and gave the Falcons a 7-6 lead.

Foothill (4-0), though, struggled with consistency on offense.

“We probably need to go back to the textbook and re-read it a little more,” Kruger said. “We have the luxury of having a lot of kids who know how to get to the basket.”

But the Falcons’ aggressive defense gave Arbor View fits.

The Aggies (3-1), who can burn teams with their athletic ability and perimeter shooting, managed just 11 field goals — four in the fourth quarter — and trailed 42-23 with less than six minutes to play before a 9-0 run cut the deficit to 42-32.

Arbor View, though, got no closer.

“We have 13 girls who play hard,” Kruger said. “We’re not trying to be ahead by 100 at halftime. Our goal is to be fresh in the fourth quarter. They understand what it takes to work hard.”

The Falcons, though, got overly aggressive at times, and Arbor View tried to hang in the game from the free-throw line, making 15 of 27 tries.

“It’s one of those things you have to balance,” Kruger said. “At this point, though, I’ll take that aggression.”

Kelsey McFarland scored 10 points and Gabby Doxtator eight for Foothill.

Dana Lewis led the Aggies with 13 points, and teammate Ariona Gill scored 11.

Foothill 54, Rancho 32 — Turney had 22 points, and the Falcons used a game-closing 18-4 run to down the Rams in a semifinal.

McFarland added 10 points for Foothill.

Darje Martin and LaKissa Martin each scored nine points for Rancho.

Turney and McFarland were named to the all-tournament team and were joined by Arbor View’s Gill and Lewis, Coronado’s Dajah Washington, Del Sol’s Sayanna Roy, Faith Lutheran’s Alex Wright, Legacy’s Carolina Rahkonen and Rancho’s Tatianna Lee and LaKissa Martin.

Arbor View 35, Legacy 31 — Janae Strode had 15 points to help the Aggies hold off the Longhorns in a semifinal.

Gill added 11 points for Arbor View.

Rahkonen had 19 points for Legacy.

Legacy 34, Rancho 22 — Rahkonen had 13 points to help the Longhorns top the Rams in the third-place game.

Legacy made 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter and outscored Rancho, 15-7 in the final quarter to secure the win.

LaKissa Martin paced Rancho with seven points.

Coronado 45, Silverado 25 — Skyler Feldman had 14 points, and the Cougars used a 36-12 spurt in the middle quarters to roll by the Skyhawks.

Deja Siaki had 11 points for Silverado.

Faith Lutheran 53, Del Sol 32 — Dani Tharaldson scored 16 points, and Morgan Hill added 15 points to lift the Crusaders by the Dragons.

Wright had 11 points for Faith Lutheran.

Roy led Del Sol with 16 points.

Coronado 52, Faith Lutheran 39 — Samantha Green scored nine of her 11 points in the second half after the Cougars used a 19-6 run to close the first half on their way to a win over the Crusaders.

Feldman added 10 points for Coronado, which expanded a 27-16 halftime lead to 41-22 midway through the third quarter.

Wright had 13 points, and Tharaldson scored 10 for Faith Lutheran.

Silverado 47, Del Sol 42 — Monet Salazar scored 15 points, and the Skyhawks outscored the Dragons 15-9 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

Jessica Chamberlain added nine points for Silverado.

Roy had 25 points for Del Sol.

Sierra Vista 43, Mojave 24 — Danielle Morrow scored eight of her 13 points in the second half to lead the Mountain Lions over the Rattlers.

Rayena Rael had 11 points for Mojave.

Sierra Vista 33, Desert Pines 28 – Morrow scored all of her 10 points in the second half to help the Mountain Lions rally to defeat the Jaguars.

Kennedy Nieves added seven points for Sierra Vista, which trailed 11-0 after the first quarter.

Chrystian Myles had 14 points for Desert Pines, which made just 2 of 17 free throws.

Desert Pines 29, Pahrump Valley 14 — Qua’Tajah Mocklin and Adrianne Jackson each scored eight points to help the Jaguars top the Trojans.

Shayla Dance had five points for Pahrump.

Mojave 38, Pahrump Valley 33 — Rael scored 16 points as the Rattlers held on to beat the Trojans.

Dance had 10 points for Pahrump.