Battle @ the Beach

Riki’s Redondo Union High School team (3-3) faces a tough challenge today at 3:30 p.m. in a 5/th place semifinal for the Redondo “Battle @ the Beach” versus Santa Monica (who lost a nail biter to Long Beach Millikan on Wednesday). In the event, Redondo loses, they will play the loser of the Bishop Montgomery/Palos Verdes game on Saturday at 1:30. If they pull a major upset, they play the winner of that game at 5:00 for fifth place. The championship game will feature the winners of the Inglewood/Vista del Lago (Moreno Valley) and the South Torrance/Millikan semifinal winners). A surprise visitor to Wednesday’s game was WNBA and USC star Lisa Leslie (her niece plays for Inglewood).

Riki has started all six games at point and is averaging about 20-25 minutes/game (out of 32). She is averaging about 3 points a game with a high of 9 points. More significantly, she has taken 7 charges in six games (and has gotten up each time she was knocked down!) Her defense and overall court leadership earned her the Redondo coach’s “All Tournament” recognition in the Colony tournament last week in Ontario where they finished 2-2.

Needless to say, we’re very proud of her and her ability to step up at this level. If she remains healthy, she should have a good three seasons of high school ball.

Following the Redondo tournament, they have a break from competition until the Gahr tournament that begins on December 26th.