Melaiah Joseph wasn’t the most confident player headed into St. Anthony’s CIF Southern Section Division 2AA girls’ basketball second-round game on Saturday.
“I didn’t expect it coming from warmups because I wasn’t really making too many shots,” Joseph said. “But I knew we had to come out with energy, pace and just push the ball and put it in the basket.”
Joseph led the Saints charge and made all five of her 3-point attempts in the first quarter as St. Anthony ran away with a 70-48 win over visiting Crean Lutheran.
“To get five 3-pointers is really exciting,” Joseph said. “It was coming in the flow.”
Three of those makes came off of assists from teammate Ryann Bennett, who chipped in 14 points.
“She was on fire, we had to keep finding her and I’m glad I was able to drive and they were collapsing so I was able to find her easily,” Bennett said. “We’ve been playing together for a really long time so it clicks automatically and when one of us isn’t going good we’re able to pick each other up to do better.”
“When she gets going and is knocking down shots we’re pretty hard to beat,” St. Anthony coach Bennett said of Joseph. “She’s improved her shot every year since she was a freshman, so this year she’s kind of got the green light. She’s improved her balance, holding her follow through and all of the mechanics. When she has the mechanics down she’s a really good shooter.”
Joseph also came up with two of the six turnovers forced by the St. Anthony defense in the first quarter, and that directly led to Saints offense at the other end. Joseph capped the 31-12 quarter with a three from the corner just before the buzzer sounded.
“It’s definitely developed since freshman year, I’ve been focusing on that, it’s just going to the gym every day besides practice and private training,” Joseph said of her shot. “It’s about keeping my elbow in for sure, and putting my fingers down (on follow through).”
St. Anthony ended up making eight of its first 11 shots from 3-point range and led 47-21 at halftime. The Saints also scored 68 points in the first round.
“We got off to a fast start and I figured we’d shoot the ball well being at home,” coach Bennett said. “Once we just get out to a lead, once we see the ball go through the basket it becomes really big for us. That’s happened at home this year.”
Kadence Lloyd scored 10 points in the paint for St. Anthony while Laila Hughes scored eight points, and Kaylah Cannon came off the bench to make a trio of 3-pointers for nine points. The Saints led by as many as 32 points in the second half.
The Saints (22-7) will face the winner of Claremont and Ventura in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
“It’s what we call the 95 percent, all of the things you have to do that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” coach Bennett said of advancing further in the playoffs. “All the screening and blocking out, that stuff will take you a little further.”
This will be the first quarterfinals appearance for the Saints since 2017.
“We’re a lion in a cage so we’re ready for whoever is next,” Ryann Bennett said. “We’re really hungry.”
