The562’s coverage of St. Anthony athletics is sponsored by Jane & B.I. Mais, Class of 1948.
For eight minutes, the St. Anthony girls’ basketball team went toe-to-toe with Bishop Montgomery in a Del Rey league battle as the Saints took a first quarter lead.
However, some missed opportunities and some hot shooting from the Knights led to a 79-53 defeat for the Saints on their home floor.
In the first quarter, Jordyn Washington led the charge as she helped the Saints shake off some early game jitters, scoring seven points to give St. Anthony a 21-19 lead.
The Del Rey League leading Knights didn’t let up as they immediately tied the game at 21 to start the second period and took the lead as they outscored the Saints 18-6 to take a 10-point lead into the half.
With some stifling man-to-man defense the Knights followed Armanyie Reed’s lead as she scored 11 points in the opening half and kept the Saints on their heels throughout the contest allowing them to open up their lead.
Washington continued to keep the Saints within striking distance with a 3-pointer to cut Bishop’s lead to 41-32.
However, the Knights responded with four straight 3-point shots to take a 53-37 lead and put the game out of reach for the Saints.
Bishop Montgomery didn’t stop there as they went on a 20-5 run after the Saints had cut the lead back down to 9.
Reed finished with a game-high 21 points for Bishop Montgomery as they remained unbeaten in Del Rey League play. Washington finished with 18 for the Saints.
Kadie Lloyd chipped in 13 points for St. Anthony, as the only other Saint to reach double digits.
St. Anthony (11-12, 3-3) will now have two more league contests as they look to secure one of the league’s automatic qualifying spots. Wins in both of those games should secure a playoff spot for the Saints. Next up is a trip to St. Monica on Thursday night, with the regular season finale back in Long Beach on Feb. 4 against St. Mary’s Academy.
