DIVISION III-AA GIRLS’ BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS : Bishop Montgomery Pounds Troy Despite Advance Notice

Troy Coach Brad Sand wanted his team to know what it was getting into when it played Torrance Bishop Montgomery Wednesday.

So, he didn’t hide the videotape.

Sand let his players see the Knights’ faults in glorious VHS color.

“See, they’re making mistakes,” Sand recalled telling them.

There was one major hitch to Sand’s video dissection of the second-seeded team in the Southern Section Division III-AA girls’ basketball playoffs: the team causing the Knights’ problems was Brea Olinda .

Bishop Montgomery isn’t nearly as fallible when the opponent isn’t Brea. And Troy was no Brea.

Troy committed 29 turnovers, took 30 fewer shots and was knocked out of the playoffs, 58-33, at home.

“They were awfully quick, tall, played good defense and were aggressive,” Sand said of Bishop Montgomery. “We had seen them on film and knew what we were getting into.”

And it still didn’t help.

Despite 14 first-half turnovers, Troy trailed by only eight at halftime, 22-14. But Bishop Montgomery abandoned its zone press for a man-to-man press and went on a 10-2 run to open the third quarter.

Troy (19-7) lost in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. Bishop Montgomery (22-4) will play host to Newport Harbor Saturday at a site to be determined.

The tone for the second half was established on the first possession. Troy set up to take the ball to one end of the floor--Bishop Montgomery’s end--and inbounded to Heidi Hardeman; the Knights were out of position and Hardeman dribbled for an easy layup on the trick play--except Jamilah Jones caught Hardeman from behind and swatted the ball away.

The Knights got 18 points, nine rebounds and five steals from Tiffany Washington, the 6-foot-1 junior who easily won the showdown with Troy’s 6-3 center, Jennie Gadd.

Gadd, a senior who has signed a letter of intent to play at Mississippi, had a team-high eight points and 12 rebounds and fouled out with 2 minutes 7 seconds left.

Danielle Graham (17 points, five steals) and Tashara Carter (14 points, 10 rebounds) also had big nights for Bishop Montgomery.

“We’d see somebody who looked open, pass them the ball and they weren’t open,” Sand said. “They looked like they were going in fast motion and we were going in slow motion.”