Quartz Hill’s Party Ruined by Palmdale

The excitement had been building since Dec. 1 at Quartz Hill High, where the Rebels finally believed they had a girls’ basketball team capable of beating Palmdale.

Perhaps there was too much excitement.

Palmdale, ranked No. 3 in the region by The Times, crushed No. 4 Quartz Hill, 79-41, in a Golden League game Friday night at Palmdale.

The Falcons made a forceful statement. Quartz Hill, at least on this night, didn’t belong in the same gym.

In a game played at a furious, fast-breaking pace, the stampede was all Palmdale. The Falcons (18-3, 3-0 in league play) shot 52% compared to 31% for the Rebels (11-2, 1-1), who launched several air balls and looked out of sync on offense.

“All week people were saying we were going to get beat,” Palmdale guard Edniesha Curry said. “We showed tonight who was the better team.”

Curry, a 5-foot-2 senior headed to Cal State Northridge, finished with 32 points and nine assists. Defensively, she shut down Kenya Corley, the area’s scoring leader.

“Nothing personal,” said Curry, who also had six rebounds and four steals. “Me and her are real good friends.”

No, this was business. Corley came in averaging 24.7. She finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

But Curry held her scoreless until three minutes before halftime. By then Palmdale had taken a 31-12 lead.

“It wasn’t working for me tonight, I guess,” said Corley, who has a scholarship to California. “Edniesha was fired up. She played a good game. But next game they come to our house. It’ll be different.”

Perhaps, but Palmdale feasted on what looked like a freelancing offense, forcing 18 turnovers. However, Quartz Hill had played only one game in five weeks, spending most of the time thinking about the Falcons, who have won the league title nine of the past 15 years.

Forward Sanethia Thomas, a senior bound for Texas El Paso, carried the Rebels with 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

Palmdale got 17 points from Monique Nolan and 16 from Marje Knott. Guard Casey Bledsoe added 10.

Palmdale led, 19-10, after the first quarter and continued a 14-0 run into the second quarter, culminated by a three-point basket by Curry.

“The key to our success every game is defense, that’s where it starts,” Curry said. “All that hard work in the preseason paid off.”