Layshia Clarendon admitted her performance Friday night included a lot of acting:
They overcame an absolutely courageous 28-point effort from Clarendon, who, like a wounded prey, labored physically throughout the night.
The 5-8 senior, who has signed a letter of intent to Cal, fell hard to the floor at least a dozen times and often took unusually long rests not only between recovery time but free throws, clearly passing the obsolete and never-called 10-second rule.
Clarendon, later admitting her deliberate and dramatic ways were to give her thin squad a blow, never showed affects in performance. She swished 10 of 11 free throws and was 8 of 17 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
While constantly wincing and appearing labored, Clarendon was at her best in the second quarter when Cajon went on a 24-11 run. Despite being harassed by physical man pressure and double teams, she had 14 of them, scoring on driving, acrobatic runners, 3-pointers, pulls-ups and free throws.
The Cowboys also were ignited by three steals and a pair of baskets by sophomore Kori Walker.
Four straight free throws by Clarendon in the final 30 seconds of the half gave Cajon just its second lead, 32-31 at halftime.
This after a 14-2 run to end the first quarter, keyed by two 3-pointers from Haugen and six straight off the bench from Vaioletama, gave the Monarchs a 20-8 first-quarter lead.
Asked how she found the energy when it appeared she was so labored, Clarendon said the delays after whistles were key. Kiernan half-heartedly complained to the referees but later credited Clarendon for being smart. He called the holdups “pseudo timeouts” allowing the Cowboys to rest against the very long Monarchs bench.
“It’s a trick my father taught me a long time ago,” she said with a smile.
Link: http://www.maxpreps.com/FanPages/content/article.mxp/articleid-029e07e3-247d-4b4c-bb35-3faf6f34e960
I respect her honesty and intelligence, but I still say, why not just call some timeouts? Cajon barely called any, so they had plenty to use.
I don't get it.
Last night second-ranked Brea Olinda traveled up to Hanford and beat the number-seven team, 78-67. I'd love to dissect some stats, but neither coach has entered any on maxpreps.
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5 comments:
omg u need 2 get a life
its high school girls basketball for crying out loud
downing the teams and players isnt something that real fans of the game do
clarendon can can be as dramatic as she wants
honestly wat u think about her or her squad doesnt matter
cuz at the end of the day shes going to cal regardless lol
u take these 2 rich schools that are allowed to recruit
and with nothing but community support and sponsors up the ass
mater dei is stacked
brea is stacked
Not making excuses for Cajon
but they are located in one of the worst areas in the country
with little community involvement && no sponsors at all
cajon plays with just five players
and played both teams in away games
and is STILL number 4 in the nation
a win is a win but mater dei shouldnt be doing much celebrating over an 8 point victory when they played ten on five
Cajon is carrying an entire county on its back
what other SBDO county teams do u see doing big things?
So before u go bashing a team
lets look at the bigger picture here...
You are correct in that Cajon completely maximizes the five players they do have, and I gave them credit for that in my game report (earlier post). And as I said, Clarendon is obviously a heckuva player. Burnside will do well at Arkansas, too. Just because I've criticized them doesn't mean I don't wish them well in their basketball careers, because I do.
Did you know that colleges, when recruiting, not only look at the stats and grades of the players, but the attitudes and personalities of the candidates? I look at the total player too, and I didn't like what I saw the other night. It's my prerogative to state that, just like it's yours to disagree with me.
Cajon is indeed reppin the northeast SoCal area well, but that doesn't give them a pass to act like drama queens on the court. I teach high school in South Central Los Angeles, and I hold my kids to the same standards as if we were all in Beverly Hills.
Cajon should be proud of themselves, and Kori Walker is going to be great. But they ought to just settle down and play their game and be themselves. There's no need to act.
As a former Division I scholarship football player I agree you are 100 percent accurate when you say recruiting colleges look at attitudes and personalities, more importantly they recruit character. You can be assured those variables were considered when MANY of the top programs in America offered Clarendon scholarship. I must question, whether you were in attendance @ Mater Dei, #23 took a beating that night, much like she has thru out her career. While you frown on her added effort to help her team at all cost, you cannot question her heart, knowledge of the game, and rulebook. The same reporter who you quoted was delighted to finally see and talk with Clarendon long after that game. I personally think Cajon is horrible team on an aggregate. I enjoyed watching the true essence of team play while watching Mater Dei and Brea Olinda defeat Cajon, that team effort is the reason why those teams were able to outclass Cajon, and I mean out class from a prospective of hustle and effort, not demographic data, perhaps that is coaching which are Mater Dei and Brea’s strengths. Nonetheless I just can’t see how you can make a case against #23 personality or attitude based on those grounds, it’s not like she threw the ball across the court or shoved another girl to the floor. I am a firm believer in freedom of speech; however using a narrow context to judge a person is just un-fair, especially fine young women like Layshia Clarendon. Then again it is your Blog. God Bless…
I appreciate your comments, and am willing to consider that perhaps the overall poor attitude of the Cajon team leaks out onto Clarendon. You're right - she doesn't have an attitude. I still maintain that the more mature thing to do during this game would have been to call a timeout, but she is only 17. Her coaches should have done that, but they don't do much sitting on the bench during games.
Coaching? I'd say Cajon has the better coaching staff since they stayed in the game with no bench compared to Mater Dei's enormous talent. Also, Cajon did use all their time outs calling one in the middle of each quarter to rest their players. Plus their players out hustled and out classed Mater Dei's several times that night. What game were you watching?
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