Long Beach Poly's Arica Carter puts up a shot against Westview. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Westview's Jaime Nared grabs a rebound against Long Beach. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Long Beach Poly's Ayana Clark puts up a shot between two Westview defenders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Dec 13, 2013 @ Iolani

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Westview

45

Long Beach Poly

52

Final	1	2	3	4
Westview	8	13	7	17	45
Long Beach Poly	14	22	7	9	52

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

A. Carter 13 pts  1/3 FTs

J. Nared 27 pts  15/21 FTs

A. Clark 9 tot

J. Nared 13 tot

A. Carter 2 ast

D. Bentz 2 ast

Tough defense and leadership helped the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits beat the Westview Wildcats from Oregon, 52-45, in semifinal action at the Iolani Girls Basketball Classic.

Long Beach Poly, ranked 12th according to Max Preps, beat Maryknoll, 62-36, in the quarterfinal round to reach the semifinal game, while Westview topped Hilo, 62-46, to advance to tonight's game.

The leading scorer for the Jackrabbits was Arica Carter who is on her way to play for Louisville next year. Carter had 13 points 5 rebounds, 2 assists, one blocked shot, and four steals in the win over the Wildcats.

"She played excellent for us, it's not so much the scoring but all the raw game, steals, defense, assist. (She's) a great floor leader." Long Beach Poly head coach Carl Buggs commented after the game.

Teammate Ayana Clark had 13 points and was a rebound short of a double-double, grabbing nine rebounds and while adding a blocked shot.

Long Beach Poly terrorized Westview by defensively, coming up with 10 steals and numerous turnovers which transitioned into many fast breaks and easy layups for Carter and the Jackrabbits.

The game was tied at 5 on a three-pointer from the Wildcats' Ashley Scoggin with 5:07 to go in the 1st quarter. Long Beach Poly answered with a 9-3 run to end the 1st quarter with scores off of offensive rebounds and a couple of steals, and not relinquish the lead from that point on.

In the second quarter, Westview cut the deficit to three with a fade away shot from University of Tennessee bound Jamie Nared, who finished the game with 27 points and 13 rebounds.

"That Jamie Nared I'll tell you what she's tough I can see why she's going to Tennesse," remarked Buggs.

But a relentless cleaning of the glass (26 rebounds in the game) helped Long Beach Poly weather the rally and take a 36-21 lead into half.
 
In the seconnd half both teams came out a bit sloppy offensively, but seemed energized on the defensive side. Turnovers came in bunches for both teams and the first points were not scored until the 3:47 mark in the 3rd quarter by a driving Briana Johnson who got fouled, but made the layup and the ensuing free throw to make it 39-21.

Both teams only scored seven points a piece in the quarter, with a buzzer-beating jump shot by Scoggin, off of a beautiful spin move helping the cause. Scoggin finished with 10 points for the Wildcats, but the Jackrabbits lead had blossomed to 43-28 heading to the final quarter.

Westview attmpted to rally behind Nared, who scored 13 of her 25 points in the fourth, but ultimately came up short.

This is the Jackrabbits 3rd trip to the Iolani Classic.

"We came in 2008 and 2009 won it both years." Said Buggs. Long Beach Poly hopes to make it three-for-three as they advanced to play Riverdale (TN) ,who beat host Iolani 54-31. The Championship game will be played at 8:00 p.m. back at Iolani Gymnasium.