High school girls basketball: No. 19 Long Island Lutheran wins Nike TOC title beating No. 5 La Jolla Country Day 63-50

One night after knocking off the defending MaxPreps National Champions, No. 19 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) ended up atop the Nike TOC field with a 63-50 win Thursday over No. 5 La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.) in Mesa, Ariz.

LuHi (9-0) hung on for a 63-60 win over Sidwell Friends in the TOC semifinals on Wednesday — snapping the Quakers' 36-game win streak — and then backed it up with the finals victory over the Torreys.

Billed as "The Battle of the Bigs" featuring LuHi's Kate Koval and La Jolla's Breya Cunningham, it lived up to the hype as both shined throughout the contest. Koval, a 6-foot-5 post from Ukraine, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds while Cunningham was brilliant with a game-high 23 points.

And while the spotlight was focused on the sensational paint play on Thursday, it was LuHi point guard Kayleigh Heckel that provided the difference for the Crusaders. The junior scored a team-high 22, including 17 in the second half and was named tournament MVP.

The Crusaders started hot with an 18-6 first quarter and then weathered a second-quarter flurry from La Jolla Country Day that cut the scored to 29-27 headed to intermission. Cunningham, the Arizona commit, scored the first 10 of the game for the Torreys before her squad joined in during the second-quarter run that was aided by five free throw misses from LuHi.

But the halftime speech from LuHi coach Christina Raiti sparked her team as Heckel, Ka'Shya Hawkins and Savannah Swords ignited an 8-0 run to bump the cushion to 10 points.

And while LuHi got contributions from up and down the roster — Lauryn Swann had 5, Syla Swords scored 8, Hawkins finished with 12 and Savannah Swords tallied 6 — Cunningham was a one-woman wrecking crew. She scored La Jolla County Day's first 14 points of the second half before Tajianna Roberts added a basket and one of two free throws one trip later that trimmed the lead to 52-44 with just over 4 to play.

But as aggressive as Heckel was driving to the bucket, she was equally adept at the free throw line, hitting 5-of-8 freebies as LuHi never let the lead fall under nine. Heckel scored the final nine points for the Crusaders.

Jada Williams finished with 10 for La Jolla Country Day.

The Quakers rebounded after their first loss in 37 games with the 10-point victory as Jadyn Donovan and Leah Harmon paced the effort. Harmon finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Knights (7-2) dropped their final two games at the Nike TOC, but finished as the highest-finishing public school at the tournament.

Ka'Shya Hawkins — Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.)

Kayleigh Heckel — Long Island Lutheran (MVP)

Kate Koval — Long Island Lutheran

Breya Cunningham — La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla, Calif.)

Jada Williams — La Jolla Country Day

Jadyn Donovan — Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.)

Kailey Woolston — Lone Peak (Highland, Utah)

McKenna Woliczko — Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.)

ZaKiyah Johnson — Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ky.)

Lexi Blue — Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.)

Jazzy Davidson — Clackamas (Ore.)

Emily Eadie — Sage Hill (Newport Beach, Calif.)

Jordan Lee — St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.)

Kayla Nelms — Miami Country Day (Miami)

Jerzy Robinson — Desert Vista (Phoenix)

Qadence Samuels — Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.)

Kyndal Walker — St. John's (Washington, D.C.)