Mei-Ling Perry produces career performance for La Jolla Country Day girls basketball team, which rallies to win Nike Tournament of Champions opener

MESA, Ariz. – Many high school girls basketball programs might go several decades without highlighting an athlete the caliber of Mei-Ling Perry and the elite performance the La Jolla Country Day junior achieved Wednesday at the Nike Tournament of Champions.

For Terri Bamford, the winningest coach in San Diego Section history, the 36-point effort produced by Perry in the Joe Smith Division opener only added her name among the most prolific scorers in the Torreys’ remarkable program history.

Perry had 15 fourth-quarter points to help La Jolla Country Day overcome a halftime deficit against Cherry Creek High in Colorado and rally for a 69-54 victory at Mountain View High.

Mei-Ling Perry post-game interview

Perry, already a Princeton commit, joined Candice Wiggins, Kelsey Plum, Te-Hina Paopao, Breya Cunningham and Naomi Panganiban among the exceptional athletes mentored by Bamford in her 30 seasons as head coach to surpass the 35-point mark competing for La Jolla Country Day.

Bamford continued to add to her legacy Wednesday with head coaching victory No. 729, benefiting from Perry scoring 20 second-half points to help the Torreys (6-2) pull away from Cherry Creek (2-2) after trailing 29-27 at halftime.

La Jolla Country Day is scheduled to compete Thursday in the quarterfinals against Ridgeline High from Utah (9-0), led by Duke signee Emilee Skinner, who scored 19 points in a 51-36 opening-round victory against Millennium High of Arizona.

Safiyah Sugapong contributed 17 points and Atlanta Bass-Sulpizio added eight points for the Torreys, who grabbed a 43-39 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

Perry, who made three 3-pointers in the contest, hit seven of 10 free-throw attempts in the final quarter to increase the La Jolla Country Day advantage down the stretch.

A’neya Chambers scored 16 points and Molly Dorighi had 14 points for Cherry Creek.

In other Joe Smith Division games:

Carondelet 72, Perry 48: Five Carondelet players scored in double figures to help the Cougars (8-1) cruise to a sixth consecutive victory and into the quarterfinals at Mountain View High.

Nylah Christopher and Sophia Ross both had 13 points, with Celeste Alvarez contributing 12 points for Carondelet, which built a 14-2 lead after one quarter.

Janel Nevares added 11 points and Layla Dixon produced 10 points for the Cougars, who are scheduled to play Thursday against Moreno Valley (9-4).

Carondelet increased the lead to 34-14 at halftime and built the advantage to 54-36 entering the fourth quarter against Perry (5-6), which received 28 points from Elleigh Molinar.

Moreno Valley 50, Sanford School 30: Bella Medina had 12 points for the Vikings (9-4), who built on a four-point halftime lead by outscoring Sanford by a 16-3 margin in the third quarter in the first-round victory at Mountain View High.

Leiayjah Mills and younger sister Alaysha Mills both scored 11 points for Moreno Valley, which limited Sanford (2-1) to 13 second-half points to secure its fifth win in a row.

McKenzie Gillman contributed eight points for the Vikings, who are scheduled to square off Thursday in the quarterfinals against Carondelet (8-1).

Hamilton 53, Villa Park 37: The Spartans (9-1) were outscored 33-19 in the second half by Hamilton High of Arizona, enduring their first setback of the season in the opening-round contest at Mountain View High.

Bailey Roczey had 12 points to lead Villa Park, which faced a two-point halftime deficit against the Huskies (9-4).

Sabina Patel scored eight points, with Madelyn Martinez and Olivia Sturdivant both contributing six points each for the Spartans, who are scheduled to play Thursday in the consolation quarterfinals against Desert Vista High from Arizona (3-4).