LA HABRA — Point guard Alyssa Ke played the role of promising freshman in January 2018 when Sonora High’s girls basketball team upset Troy to snap the Warriors’ state record for consecutive league victories at 219.
On Wednesday, April 21, she excelled in the role of clutch, senior point guard as the Raiders shook up the Orange County basketball scene again.
Ke scored a game-high 16 points and teamed with fellow guards Haylie Dermer and Jazmin Sheikh to lead No. 11 Sonora to a convincing 48-33 victory against visiting No. 6 Troy in the Freeway League opener for each school.
Ke sank a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with about 20 seconds left in the first half to give the Raiders (6-3, 1-0) the lead for good at 20-19. In the second half, she helped her squad lead last season’s CIF Division 1 runner-up by as many as 19 points.
“I really felt we were going to win — I didn’t know it was going to be by this much,” Ke said. “We just knew how to run all their plays and we were really prepared. Coach (Melissa Barajas) really prepared us.”
Ke, Dermer (11 points) and Sheikh (13 points) each sank three 3-pointers apiece en route to reaching double figures against Troy (6-5, 0-1), which is learning to play without standout junior Hannah Stines, now at Orangewood Academy.
The Raiders made 9 of 16 attempts from beyond the arc but also defended and rebounded well. They held Troy point guard Bella Pearson to 12 points, including one second-half field goal, and limited Pacific-bound center Indigo Parker to eight points, eight rebounds. Parker collected four blocks on defense.
“I preach defense and I’m just so proud how our kids defended,” said Barajas, in her 19th season. “They really followed our defensive game plan to a T and they battled on the boards.”
Mia Miyatake, a 5-foot-8 senior, guarded the 6-foot-5 Parker mostly from behind and focused on being physical and rebounding. “If she (Parker) was going to hit a ton of shots, we were going to have to live with that because we just don’t have the size,” Barajas said.
Miyatake and sophomore Larissa Robles also chipped in four points for Sonora.
Troy made only 1 of 8 attempts from beyond the arc. The Warriors also were 2 for 10 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
They’ll play host to the Raiders on May 7 and could need to a victory to earn a share of the league crown and extend their state-record streak of consecutive league titles to 29.
“They played hard. They hit the shots,” Troy coach Roger Anderson said of Sonora. “All I’m hoping is we continue to get better.”
Troy’s duo of forwards Maggie Teven and Aliyah Gonzalez combined for nine points, nine rebounds and four assists.
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