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VILLA PARK — Villa Park and JSerra’s girls basketball teams needed to be resourceful in the finals of the Villa Park-Portola Kickoff Classic on Saturday night.
Each squad struggled shooting from the floor and were forced to find an alternate route to victory.
Villa Park found it on defense.
Bailey Roczey blocked a shot with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter that led to a decisive 3-pointer by Olivia Sturdivant as the No. 6 Spartans beat No. 5 JSerra 44-40 at Villa Park High in a clash of Orange County Top 10 teams.
Sturdivant, a senior point guard, grabbed the rebound off Roczey’s block and led the fast break. Her 3-pointer from the wing off a return pass from Sabina Patel lifted Villa Park to a 42-37 lead and helped the Spartans (4-0) beat the Lions (3-1) for the second consecutive year in the tournament’s final.
“It nice to have a near, 6-foot player in the back be able to block some shots, right?” Villa Park coach Brad Willis said of Roczey, a senior forward. “We really pride ourselves on trying to play defense to turn it into offense.”
“They’re a tremendous team,” the coach added of JSerra.
Roczey signaled a strong defensive game with a block early in the first half. She finished with three blocks, including one against a JSerra drive late in the fourth quarter.
Roczey also drew a charge in the fourth quarter.
Sturdivant scored seven of her team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter en route to tournament MVP.
Villa Park led 21-19 at halftime but missed its first nine field goals of the second half before scoring its first point of the third quarter with 2:36 left.
Roczey scored on a late drive to give the Spartans a 30-29 lead going into the fourth.
The teams traded baskets early in the final quarter before Villa Park’s defense provided separation.
Patel, a senior, finished with 10 points and earned all-tournament honors with sophomore teammate Lauren Wolfe.
JSerra’s Vivian Grenald scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to earn all-tournament honors with teammate Kayla Rice.
Last season, Villa Park made 10 3-pointers to beat JSerra 54-51 in the finals of the tournament.
In the third-place game:
Portola 52, Troy 50: Amelia Booth broke a 50-50 tie with a free throw with 34 seconds left in the fourth to help lift the Bulldogs (3-1). The senior forward earned the shot on a putback attempt moments after Mei-Ling Perry fouled out. Perry, a Princeton commit, scored on a drive to give the Warriors (2-2) a 50-48 lead with about a minute remaining.