O’Malley pours in 41 points and Crean Lutheran tops Garey 74-59 in CIF 4A quarterfinals

Shannon O’Malley of Crean Lutheran takes a jumper Wednesday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran).

Crean Lutheran’s hopes for a first CIF title in girls basketball are very much alive.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo

The Saints took another step toward that goal Wednesday night, defeating Garey 74-59 in the 4A quarterfinals at Crean Lutheran behind the 41-point performance of junior guard Shannon O’Malley.

O’Malley had a school record 10, 3-pointers breaking her own record. The school record for most points in a game is held by Saints freshman Taylor Feldman, who had 51 points earlier this season.

“It was fun to watch Shannon get out and shoot,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Kelsi Walker. “It’s fun to see them shine in different elements. It’s fun to see who is going to be that threat, and I’m glad she did because without it, it would have been a lot closer game.”

Top-seeded Crean Lutheran moves on to face Santa Fe Friday night at 7 in the semifinals at Santa Fe.

Crean Lutheran had a 15-11 lead after one quarter and then broke it open in the second quarter, outscoring Garey 22-10 and was in control the restr of the way. O’Malley had 11 points including four 3-pointers in the quarter.

“In the first and second half, they came out and made a few points, and then we all worked together and got back on top of our game and we were getting rebounds and stopping them on defense,” O’Malley said. “I think the defense played a huge role in opening up our offense.

“If we hadn’t come out and shut down some of their players, this game would probably have been a lot different. Defense creates offense and that’s how we win.”

O’Malley was glad that her teammates kept feeding her the ball.

“One of the the things I always say is that I feel like my hands are on fire when I’m doing really well.”

Feldman added 12 points and Emily Reed eight points for Crean Lutheran.

Jamya Mickens had 14 points to lead Garey (23-4).

Play was physical at times and there was a skirmish toward the end of the third quarter which was quickly broken up.

Crean Lutheran (25-5) was leading by 17 at the time and after three technical fouls were assessed against Garey, the Saints shot six consecutive free throws. The Saints held a 59-36 lead after three quarters.

Crean Lutheran was also assessed a technical foul in the final quarter.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com