Le Jardin pulls away from Damien in second half, 46-34

Le Jardin's Katie Awana (20) put up 13 points to follow teammate Maddie Venezia's double-double in leading the Bulldogs to victory Monday night. Spencer Honda | SL

KAILUA — Height and patience in the second half helped Le Jardin slip past Damien, 46-34, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II contest Monday night at Charles B. Wang Gymnasium.

Sophomore Maddie Venezia had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to their second straight regular season win as they improved to 2-4 and 2-1 in league play.

Venezia, who is 5-foot-8, was efficient from the floor as she had a season-high performance on 6-for-8 shooting while adding five steals and two assists.

Joining her in double figures was 5-foot-11 senior forward Katie Awana with 13 points and eight boards. Awana scored on two putbacks in the first quarter to give Le Jardin a 4-3 lead over Damien after the first eight minutes of play.

The Bulldogs, who outscored Damien in every quarter, also got six points, 15 rebounds and three blocks from 6-foot-1 senior center Julia Fisher, who earned All-Hawaii Third Team honors after helping the school's girls volleyball team repeat as D2 state champs in the fall.

The trio of Venezia, Awana and Fisher was key against the undersized Monarchs as Le Jardin totaled eight blocks and outrebounded Damien, 54 to 34.

However, despite their height advantage, the Bulldogs struggled to take care of the ball as they committed 21 turnovers in the first half and led by just two at the break, 16-14.

The third quarter was a much different story as Le Jardin did not commit a turnover until there was 3:19 left in the period. This helped the Bulldogs take their largest lead of the game, 33-18, with under four minutes to play in the quarter.

Damien (4-6 overall, 1-3 ILH D2) made things interesting in the latter half of the period, however, as it went on a 10-0 run to stay in the game.

Le Jardin, who had 34 total turnovers in the contest, committed just four in the third quarter to take a 35-28 lead heading into the final period of play.

The Monarchs were able to cut it to six points at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs' size was too much for Damien to overcome.

Ilana Sagapolutele led Damien in the loss with 11 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Anuhea Sonnenberg added 10 more boards and eight points, which all came on free throws.

Le Jardin shot 20-for-56 from the field while the Monarchs went 9-for-56 from the floor.