All season lengthy Kinidi Curl and Jade Fort have been a dynamic duo for the Hamilton Excessive ladies basketball crew. They had been once more Tuesday night time at Venice, combining to attain 41 factors within the top-seeded Yankees’ 67-47 victory over Palisades within the semifinals of the Metropolis Part Open Division playoffs.
Hamilton will meet Western League rival Westchester for the championship Saturday night time at L.A. Southwest Faculty at a time to be decided.
The Yankees’ 1-2 punch has been an excessive amount of for each Metropolis opponent this winter and this time it was Fort doing extra of the facilitating with Curl driving to the basket.
Hamilton held Palisades to 2 factors within the first quarter however its offense stalled within the second quarter and the Yankees led by solely six at halftime.
“We take pride in our defense,” Curl mentioned. “We don’t want to go home. We don’t want this to end.”
“We focused our attention on their best players,” Fort added.
Hamilton’s Jade Fort is guarded by Palisades’ Olivia Lewis within the second half.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Instances)
Protection led to transition baskets within the third quarter because the Yankees (25-2) steadily pulled away. Micah Lemons contributed 11 factors and Saniah Epps added six for the senior-laden squad that has rattled off 18 straight wins since a 16-point intersectional loss to Westlake.
Fort is often the Yankees’ excessive scorer, however she acknowledged Curl had the recent hand on this night time and that was completely advantageous together with her. Now, they’ve their sights set on third-seeded Westchester— a crew they beat by 11 and 6 factors in league play.
“It doesn’t matter who we play [in the finals],” Fort added. “I don’t feel the nerves. I’m going to treat it like any other game.”
The Dolphins didn’t go quietly. Riley Oku had 12 factors, Elly Tierney had 10 and Ayla Teegardin had 9 for fifth-seeded Palisades (15-15), which upset No. 4 El Camino Actual 58-47 within the quarterfinals. Hamilton beat Palisades twice in league play, by eight and 28 factors.
Westchester knocked off No. 2-seeded Birmingham 57-44 in Tuesday’s first semifinal. The Comets (22-6) led by 10 at halftime and the Patriots (22-7) by no means received nearer than 5 factors the remainder of the way in which.
Senior Reigne Waugh scored 22 factors for Westchester. Freshman Kayla Tanijiri had 20 for Birmingham.
