High school girls basketball: No. 2 Sidwell downs No. 14 Conway 66-56 in opening round of GEICO Invitational

Jadyn Donovan notched her 1,000th career point in the first quarter and No. 2 Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) turned its relentless defense into offense and beat No. 14 Conway (Ark.) 66-56 Friday in the GEICO Girls Basketball Invitational.

Sidwell Friends battles The Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tenn.) at 7 p.m. (ET) Saturday on ESPN+ after beating No. 5 La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.) 61-41 in the other semifinal.

Donovan, who eclipsed the scoring milestone on nifty backdoor cut and feed from Leah Harmon, added 10 more points in the first half as the Quakers used a 14-2 run over the final 4 minutes of the second quarter to take a 34-26 lead into intermission.

In the second half, Sidwell used its height, length and depth to hold Conway at bay, building a 16-point lead at one point early in the fourth quarter.

The Quakers got multiple scoring opportunities after offensive rebounds in the second half while Donovan got a key monster defensive rebound with Sidwell clinging to an eight-point lead late in the game.

Sidwell's ability to clog passing lanes forced Conway into nearly 20 turnovers in the game, leading to a handful of fast-break chances that allowed the Quakers to build a comfortable lead that withstood the Wampus Cats' late push.

And  finally, Donovan led four Sidwell players in double figures finished with 16 as Harmon had 12 of her 14 in the second half, Kendall Dudley finished with 13 and Khia Miller added 11. Freshman Jaydyn Jackson added nine for Sidwell.

For Conway, Chloe Clardy finished with a game-high 17 while Alexis Cox added 16 and Auburn commit Savannah Scott had 14.

The first half was a battle of runs as Sidwell raced to an 18-10 lead on Donovan's 1,000th point before the Wampus Cats turned it around with an 11-0 string as Cox and Clardy, a Stanford commit, combined for eight points to take a 21-18 edge.

But with Cox sitting with foul trouble, the Quakers saw Donovan, a Duke commit, come alive. She tied the game at 24 off an alley oop pass from Harmon and several possessions later was the finisher on a three-pass fast breaker for a 30-26 lead. She added another bucket before Harmon beat the buzzer and a 34-26 halftime edge.

Rhema Collins and Aalyah Del Rosario each had a double-double as the Feet held La Jolla Country Day to 15 second-half points. Collins scored 13 and grabbed 10 boards while Del Rosario went for 11 and 11. Bre'Aria Cannon added 12.

Breya Cunningham had a game-high 15 for the Torreys while fellow Arizona commit Jada Williams added 11.