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Sports

Lady Judges Victorious, 45-42

Senior Jackeline Barillas and sophomore Gabriella Valdes lead team to victory with strong performance in 3rd quarter

The Cardozo Lady Judges basketball team kicked off the season at home Wednesday with a win over the Beach Channel High School Dolphins, 45-42.

Both teams were slow to get started and the first quarter ended with the visiting Dolphins holding an 8-7 edge. In the second quarter, Beach Channel increased the pace and forced the Judges to turn the ball over at half court. The Dolphins went on an 8-0 run and eventually ended the half with a 21-15 lead.

"We had a good halftime talk about how this is our house and we were making stupid mistakes, " said Vinny O'Donoghue, Cardozo's varsity girls basketball coach since 2007. "In the first half, we must have missed seven lay-ups and our foul shooting was pretty poor, but they stuck in there and I give them credit for that."

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Hanging in wasn't easy considering the play of Dolphins senior Whitney Brown who scored 26 points on the day and played most of the second half of the game with four fouls.

"She's a senior and my only four-year player," said Beach Channel Head Coach Osei Akoto. "She played a great game today."

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Cardozo's only senior, Jackeline Barillas, and sophomore Gabriella Valdes led the Judges back into the game early in the third quarter by challenging the Dolphins guards and converting buckets on the other end. Barillas led the Judges with 12 points and two rebounds. Valdes added eight points, while sophomore Krystie Roldan had nine points and three rebounds.

"We just became frustrated and we broke down. Cardozo wanted it more," Akoto said. "That's what came out in the end result." 

The Judges' Garielle Hernandez was the center of a lot of the Dolphins' frustration. Hernandez, a junior, scored five straight points on two lay-ups and a free throw to lead the Judges' comeback early in the fourth quarter.

"Gabrielle didn't know much about basketball last year as a sophomore. She's a gamer and plays her heart out, but by the time she learned how to play last year, the season was over," O'Donoghue said. "This year she's even smarter on the court and she's only moving forward."

Whitney Brown's long three pointers late in the fourth quarter helped the Dolphins stay in the game after they had watched their lead evaporate. Down 44-42 with under a minute to play, Brown missed a jumper on the baseline. At that point, all the Judges needed to do was kill time.

On the next possession, Hernandez, who finished with eight points and five rebounds, struck again from the free throw line. She hit one of two free throws to add an insurance point for the Judges with 30 seconds left in the game.

"Our captain Jackie told us not to focus on the stands or what anyone else was doing and 'just focus on your game, man.'" Hernandez said. "We stuck together and played as a team." 

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