Girls basketball: No. 6 Santaluces handles No. 9 Palm Beach Lakes

Thursday, January 12, 2012
by Matt Porter

Sixth-ranked Santaluces brought a roster of nine players, all but one of them seniors, into Thursday's matchup against No. 9 Palm Beach Lakes.

The Rams, meanwhile, brought 13 players, with only one senior among them.

Chalk up a win for the veterans.

Santaluces, a quick, sweet-shooting, high-pressure team, caused Lakes to suffer a few more growing pains in a 71-50 road victory.

The win gave Santaluces (15-4, 5-1 in District 13-7A) the inside track to the No. 1 seed in next month's district tournament. Lakes (9-8, 4-1), which beat Santaluces by two points in their Dec. 1 meeting, will most likely meet the Chiefs in the district final.

Santaluces left little doubt about this one, pulling away midway through the first quarter. The Chiefs led by more than 12 points after each quarter.

Santaluces has enough balance to give teams trouble in the post-season. First, they can shoot from the outside. Senior Essence Williams, a transfer from Okeechobee, hit three of her four three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with a team-high 20 points. Teammate Leanna Rathell (11 points) hit a trio of threes in the first half.

They also have a collection of quick hands on defense, especially 5-foot-3 guard Clariwin Dameus and Williams, who teamed up for several fast-break layups.

"We played good defense tonight," Santaluces coach Shack Leonard said. "Still missed a few too many shots, but we'll take it."

Santaluces also has lots of presence in the middle. Forward Miriam Pierre tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow forward Dominique Winbush had 17 points and seven rebounds.

For Palm Beach Lakes, freshman guard Xana Dove scored 23 points. Junior guard Shanovia Dove added 13.