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Lady Braves earn 25th victory

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The San Carlos Lady Braves continued their dominant start to the season with a 65-45 win over Miami last week in front of a pro-San Carlos crowd on the road.

“There were a lot of people from San Carlos that came to support the kids; we knew we were due for a good game,” said San Carlos head coach Alvin Antonio. “We knew we needed a good start and flow through the game.”

The Lady Braves quickly built a 9-1 lead three minutes into the game. With 3:47 left in the opening quarter, San Carlos freshman Caylee Longstreet knocked down a jumper and added another basket for a 13-2 lead.

Miami’s Layla Thompson and Leeyah Goss each scored to end the Lady Vandals’ scoring drought, but San Carlos sophomore Ellysia Cutter nailed a corner three-pointer to reinstate a 10-point lead. Areianna Brown was quick to respond with a jumper in the lane.

The Lady Braves led 17-11 after the frst quarter.

Goss had a putback to open the second quarter, and a Vandal three-pointer sliced San Carlos’ lead to just one for a few seconds before Cutter responded with her own triple. Those 14 seconds were the closest Miami would be for the rest of the game.

It wasn’t until the 4:20 mark of the second quarter that San Carlos’ Camryn Longstreet scored in the lane. After a Lady Vandal basket cut San Carlos’ lead to four, Longstreet came up with a steal and found Janessa Victor for an easy layup.

Miami did cut San Carlos’ lead to 24-22 with 1:37 left in the first half, but San Carlos closed the half on a 7-0 run fueled by two Cutter triples. San Carlos led 31-22 at the break.

The Lady Braves stormed out of the gates to start the second half, going on a game-changing 10-0 run started by a Camryn Longstreet three-pointer, followed by a Cutter three-pointer, a Victor fast break layup and a spin-move basket from Kylee Juan.

A three-pointer at the 4:19 mark ended Miami’s second-half scoring struggles. Goss added a free throw and another three-pointer to cut San Carlos’ lead to 12 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Due for a basket, Camryn Longstreet shook loose her defender with a pump fake and knocked down a jumper. Goss continued to try and rally her team with a basket, but Juan was fouled by Miami’s Demetria Dosela on the other end. Juan was only able to knock down the second free throw, but Camryn Longstreet nabbed another steal and found Cutter for another trey and a 15-point lead.

The Lady Braves continued their onslaught with Juan grabbing a steal that lead to a Camryn Longstreet basket before Juan banked home a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 51-31 lead.

San Carlos cruised in the final quarter, with a cherry on top when Karmya Betom drove for two in the final minutes.

Camryn Longstreet led the Lady Braves with a team-high 19 points; Cutter added 17, while Victor finished with 11.

“Let’s get this done; we are ranked number one for a reason,” said Cutter. “We have so many people doubting us, but we keep showing them what we can do. (This team) is family — we are having so much fun this season.”

The Lady Braves improved to 25-2 on the season. They close out the regular season this Friday against Leading Edge Academy, currently second in region standings behind the Lady Braves.

Miami dropped to 15-7 on the season, including 5-3 in region play. Goss led the Lady Vandals with a game-high 20 points.

“Our game plan was to take (Dosela) out of the game,” said coach Antonio. “We wanted to limit her touches and every time she touched the basketball, we wanted to make it hard for her to dribble and score. The girls did a good job of that.”