LOS ANGELES – It was a night intended to celebrate the most prolific backcourt in Brentwood School girls basketball history in seniors Lev Feiman and Payton Sugar.
It wound up being another opportunity to showcase the exceptional efforts of Windward seniors Samari Bankhead, Samara Durham and Olivia Lagao, in addition to offering a glimpse into the future with the Wildcats’ impressive freshman class, led by Amel Cook.
Windward not only made more 3-point field goals than Brentwood – the Southern Section program leader this season – but also disrupted the Eagles with their length on defense and produced several timely runs as a result of a significant rebounding margin and second-chance points, all contributing to a 75-62 victory and the Gold Coast League championship.
The Wildcats (16-7, 6-0) won their eighth in a row and secured a second league title in three years, after Brentwood (20-7, 5-2) swept both meetings to capture the Gold Coast crown last season.
Charis Rainey, a sophomore, led Windward with 19 points, along with five rebounds and four assists, with the Central Florida-bound Bankhead adding 18 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, plus Lagao scoring 12 points for the Wildcats, who also achieved a 63-54 victory Jan. 27 against Brentwood.
Lagao and Rainey both made four 3-point field goals apiece, with Bankhead hitting three, Durham hitting two and freshman Mikaella Kawahito adding one, as Windward benefited from 14 3-pointers in comparison to nine for Brentwood, the top Southern Section program and No. 2 in the state behind Mission Hills.
The Eagles hit nine 3-point field goals, including seven in the second half, to improve their season total to 318, trailing only Mission Hills at 325.
Mission Hills made 406 3-pointers last season and Brentwood hit 372 3-point field goals, both among the top five season totals all-time in California.
Sugar led Brentwood with six 3-pointers and 24 points – 17 in the second half – along with contributing seven rebounds and four steals, increasing her program records for 3-point field goals to 108 this season and 328 for her career, elevating to No. 24 in California prep history.
Feiman, a UC San Diego commit, finished with 13 points, giving her 1,697 in her career, closing in on the program record of 1,704 accumulated from 2010-14 by Kennedy Martin, who played collegiately at Brown.
Brentwood School seniors Lev Feiman and Payton Sugar, along with their families on Senior Night | Erik Boal photo
Cook had 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals, in addition to limiting Feiman to four first-half points, as Windward produced a 12-point run in the final 3:25 of the second quarter to grab a 42-27 halftime advantage.
Brentwood had overcome a nine-point, first-quarter deficit – with Rainey scoring 10 early points for Windward – to pull to within 27-25 with 4:30 remaining in the opening half on a layup by sophomore Reena White, who contributed 14 points for the Eagles.
Windward extended its advantage to 67-42 late in the third quarter, before Brentwood rallied in the fourth, scoring 12 of the game’s final 14 points behind the efforts of Feiman, Sugar and White.
Logan Scott contributed 11 points and six rebounds for the Eagles, with Durham and freshman Lexie Wehrle both scoring six points apiece for Windward, which concludes the regular season Tuesday and Wednesday against Archer School for Girls and Campbell Hall, respectively.
Brentwood squares off Wednesday in its regular-season finale against Palos Verdes, with Feiman looking to become the program’s all-time leading scorer.