A stiff defensive effort and an efficient shooting performance carried the Claremont girls basketball team to a 57-24 victory over Ontario Christian on Wednesday in the Claremont Tournament.

The win gave the Wolfpack their fourth-consecutive victory to move to 4-0 on the season. Claremont’s 57 points marked the highest scoring output for the Wolfpack this season.

Claremont opened the game on a 6-0 run after senior Katie Porter connected on her first three shots. The Wolfpack held Ontario Christian to just four points in the opening quarter and led 16-4 heading into the second. Claremont’s fast start set the pace for the entire game and put the Knights in a hole they were never able to dig out of.

Claremont tacked on 12 more points in the second quarter, while holding the Knights to just six, to take a 28-10 lead into halftime.

After a lethargic first-half performance, Ontario Christian showed some life in the third quarter by doubling their first-half point total. The Knights’ defense was not able to keep Claremont off the board, however, as Claremont added 17 more points in the third to cling to a 45-20 lead after three quarters.

Behind another stellar showing of team defense, the Wolfpack outscored the Knights 12-4 in the final frame of action to seal their largest victory of the season.

Head coach Darryl Kennedy said Claremont had to alter their defensive scheme early on by using man-to-man, which allowed the Wolfpack to dictate the flow of the game. 

“We started out in a half-court trap and it wasn’t as effective as I wanted it to be, so we switched to man-to-man,” Coach Kennedy said. “We tried to put some pressure on them and it seemed to work really well.”

Porter led all scorers with 16 points and finished with three rebounds and two assists. Senior Jessica Abrolat finished second on the team with 12 points while leading the team with seven assists. Junior Janay Hepburn totaled 11 points and was tied for a team-high five rebounds.

“Jessica played well tonight,” Coach Kennedy said. “She was a little sluggish [on Tuesday], but she played well. Katie shoots well and she shot well again for us [on Wednesday], too.”

CHS faced Diamond Bar yesterday (results were not available at presstime) and will compete in the final game of the Claremont Tournament tonight.

Boys hope strong outings ready them for tournament play

The Claremont boys basketball team is off to a 3-2 start this season after going 2-0 in their first two matches. The Wolfpack’s most recent action came on Saturday when they beat Walnut, 67-59. On Friday they fell to Diamond Ranch by a mere three points, 68-65. Claremont will take to the court again on Monday against Villa Park in the North Orange Country Championships.

Boys soccer looking for more consistent effort

The boys soccer team is 2-2-2 in its first six matches of the 2013-14 season. Claremont is outscoring their opponents 11-0 in its victories, but has only scored six goals in their other four matches. The Wolfpack took on Chino yesterday at home, however, results were not available as of presstime. Claremont’s next match will be on Tuesday at Etiwanda.

Girls soccer competition heats up this weekend

The Wolfpack have started the season 2-1-1.  After opening the season with a 2-0 loss at Diamond Bar, Claremont has either won or tied in the last three contests. They topped Rialto 5-0 on Friday and tied Royal 1-1 on Saturday.  The Wolfpack’s most recent match was against Alta Loma on Tueday, whom they defeated 2-1. Claremont will have a doubleheader against Los Osos and Canyon on Saturday.

—Bryan Stauffer

sports@claremont-courier.com