MidValleySports.Com

(Pomona) – Bonita raced out to a 21-4 lead in the first quarter and held off Diamond Ranch to complete its first ever sweep of the Panthers with a 66-56 Hacienda League win.

For the Bearcats it concludes an incredible regular season in which they finished 23-2 and swept the newly formed Hacienda League.

The Bearcats were led by Madison Zylstra’s 21 points, but got added support from Brianna Kennedy with 18 points. Kennedy had averaged just six points a game during the season.

The ability for the Bonita to use Kennedy’s height advantage inside and point guard Nikki Wheatley’s ability to penetrate down the lane made it easy for the Bearcats to find open looks for points in the first half.

Diamond Ranch didn’t help its cause either early in the game with a slow start that didn’t see them make a field goal until 3:49 remaining in the first quarter when Chelsea Barnes scooped in a dribble drive shot.

It didn’t get better for the Panthers in the first quarter getting outscored by 17 points as Kennedy established her inside presence.

Defensive stops for Diamond Ranch helped it get back into the game in the third quarter thanks in part to Barnes scoring 12 of her game high 25 points in the third quarter.

The Panthers cut the lead to six points early in the fourth quarter with Erika Williams steal and score to make the score 45-39.

Larandi Lowe cut the lead to four with 4:34 remaining before Kennedy’s lay-up stopped the momentum for Diamond Ranch.

Both teams traded field goals until Zylstra hit a timely three-pointer to extend the lead to 54-46 with 2:48 remaining in the game.

The lead would be extended to 11 with 1:48 left when Kennedy scored on a great pass by Stephanie Vana that would all but clinch the victory for Bonita.

Heading into the meeting with the Panthers, Bonita’s head to head meeting was 1-8 with the one coming on January 24^th of this season by only two points.