Reed helps Bishop Montgomery reach regional semifinals
TORRANCE >> Armanyie Reed is known as “Buddha” around the Bishop Montgomery girls basketball program.
The freshman guard said her parents gave her the nickname for her calmness on the basketball court.
In the second round of the CIF Southern California Regional Division I playoffs on Thursday, Reed found her peace from behind the 3-point line, hitting four times from there as the top-seeded Knights defeated visiting Santiago of Corona 72-55.
The Knights (20-5) will host fourth-seeded La Jolla Country Day in today's regional semifinal at 7 p.m.
“We stayed together as a team. I know we let up the lead a little bit, but we were able to keep each together,” said Reed, who finished with 16 points. “We got the shots that we needed and pulled the win out.”
Tiara Jones led the Knights with 17 points, Jordin Blackmon had 11 points and Sophia Dignadice added 10 points. Cyriah Coleman chipped in with nine points.
“That's what makes this team so special,” Bishop Montgomery coach Rheina Ale said. “We don't just have one great player. We have a team that brings it every single time. If one player is cold, somebody is else is going to step up. We moved the ball very well tonight, and what I liked about us is that we're very selfless.
“We understand that if somebody has the hot hand, we're going to feed the ball to that hot hand. That's what I love about this team.”
The Knights tried to pull away early, jumping out to a 16-5 lead in the first quarter. Santiago managed to fight back, cutting the deficit to 18-12 heading into the second quarter.
Bishop Montgomery led 31-24 at halftime and opened the third quarter by scoring the first six points (a 3-point play by Jones and a 3-pointer by Reed) to take a 37-24 lead.
The lead grew to 17 points late in the quarter on a 3-pointer by Dignadice.
Zawadi Ogot led Santiago (22-13) with 25 points.
Bishop Montgomery went 1-2 in the CIF-Southern Open Division playoffs. With the first-round bye in the regional playoffs, it had an 11-day break between games.
“I used that break to focus on us and the things that we need to improve on from the three tough games that we played in the Open,” Ale said. “We watched a lot of film, we practiced on our offense and our execution. Conditioning is a big thing for us. We used that week to prepare on our things.
“When we did get the schedule (for the regional), it was refreshing to get a bye so I could get time to prep, so I think it was a good week of preparation.”
Bishop Montgomery freshman Armanyie Reed scored 16 points to lead the Knights to a win in the Division I regional playoffs.