TORRANCE – La Salle High had been able to solve the puzzle once before against Bishop Montgomery, handing the seniors in the Knights’ program the lone Del Rey League girls basketball loss of their prep careers.
The Lancers nearly achieved the feat again Jan. 20, with a late comeback effort falling short in a three-point setback.
Although Bishop Montgomery had already secured its eighth consecutive league title entering Thursday’s matchup against La Salle, the fact that it was Senior Night only provided more motivation for Jordin Blackmon, Atiya Watson, Deryn Harris and Alani Tyler to prevail in their final showdown with the visiting Lancers.
Blackmon, a Rice commit, had 26 points and seven rebounds – including four 3-pointers – with Watson contributing 15 points as Bishop Montgomery secured a 58-41 victory to extend its winning streak to 10 in a row.
The Knights (20-3, 7-0) won their 20th straight Del Rey contest since a 44-43 setback to La Salle in 2023.
Bishop Montgomery earned its fifth consecutive win against La Salle (19-6, 3-4), including a 44-41 triumph in their first matchup 10 days earlier.
Bishop Montgomery girls basketball team | Photo courtesy of Bishop Montgomery
The Lancers overcame a six-point, first-quarter deficit to tie the score at 20-20 with 3:12 remaining in the opening half on a layup by Maddy Chiang.
But Bishop Montgomery scored 11 of the final 13 points before halftime, then opened the third quarter with Blackmon hitting a pair of 3-point field goals during the first three minutes to continue to build momentum.
The Knights produced a 21-4 run during a combined six-minute stretch of the second and third quarters and La Salle never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
Blackmon made three of her four 3-pointers in the third, accounting for 11 of the Knights’ 17 points during the quarter.
Bishop Montgomery connected on eight 3-point field goals in comparison to only one for La Salle.
Watson added five steals and five rebounds for the Knights, who were able to capitalize on La Salle turnovers to stretch the advantage to as many as 21 points in the fourth on Blackmon’s final basket with 2:45 remaining.
Armanyie Reed, a sophomore, added eight points, four assists and four steals, with junior Sophia Dignadice contributing six points for Bishop Montgomery, which won all nine games it played during January.
Casey Higgins, a junior forward who grabbed seven rebounds, scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half for the Lancers, who received 10 points from Julianne Tan, in addition to five points apiece from Kaden Cortes and Emily Fong.
La Salle concludes its regular-season schedule Feb. 1 against Saugus and Feb. 4 with a league matchup against St. Monica.
Bishop Montgomery, the reigning Division 1 state champion, is scheduled to have its regular-season finale Feb. 3 against St. Mary’s Academy.