Captain Jenna Harmeyer went down with a twisted knee in the first quarter, but La Jolla's girls basketball team, made up almost exclusively of underclassmen outside of their senior leader, still came within three minutes of stealing a victory at rival University City and lost a nailbiter, 31-29, Thurs., Feb. 12.
Viking Coach Johnnie Horne said after the game that Jenna's injury didn't appear to be major. She stayed on the bench throughout the rest of the game to cheer on her teammates. Then, after the narrow loss and the home crowd for the boys game swelling to huge numbers, her teammates helped her hop on one leg through part of the crowd to the team meeting room at the back of the UC gym.
Post player Satori Roberson exerted herself underneath the basket and tore down numerous missed shots by the Centurions, dribbling down court several times.
The Vikings played their trademark harassing team defense of late. Freshman Rebecca Saul is a manic terror on defense in her pigtails and glasses. Abby Ward plays hard, and has grown leaps and bounds in her poise and tenaciousness.
"I thought it was great how hard they were working, and I was really proud of them," said Harmeyer. "It's always tough to play in front of a crowd that is cheering against you, but I thought they handled it very well."
La Jolla last led, 29-28, with 3:10 remaining in the game on Roberson's bucket inside.
LJHS had the ball with 4.8 seconds left, but could not convert.
The Vikes could not contain UC senior captain Brynne Williams easily. The athletic 5'7" guard repeatedly banged in jump shots from outside. Williams potted the go-ahead shot that ultimately won the game with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Centurions a 30-29 lead.
Then, after three timeouts called by the opposing teams in waning minutes, Williams canned a free throw for a 31-29 edge, the final margin.
Horne had various players share in the ball-handling duties Harmeyer would usually handle. Saul was seen in that role a lot more. Ward was another.
Harmeyer, contacted by social media, said on the free day following the game via Facebook: "We aren't quite sure what has happened yet, but I'm going to see a specialist on Tuesday so I will know more then. So far they just diagnosed me with a knee sprain but the specialist will be able to tell me more." We hope a speedy recovery.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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