Elliott, Sage Hill shut down Whitney late

In the final three minutes of Wednesday night’s Academy League opener, it became quite clear the difference an impact post player like Emily Elliott could make for the Sage Hill School girls’ basketball team.

Although Sage Hill missed the front end of all three of its one-and-one free-throw opportunities, it was never in serious danger of giving up a late lead.

The reason was rebounding. Elliott was a rebounding vacuum, and when the freshman center missed late free throws, teammate Joyce Jogwe grabbed the ball to run more time off the clock.

Elliott had 16 points, 17 rebounds, seven steals and five blocked shots, helping Sage Hill stave off a late charge from host Cerritos Whitney to earn a 47-39 victory.

“We came out fighting,” Elliott said. “We had to finish strong, and we did. I feel good about this first league game.

“We just had to get our rebounds and finish high because it was a size game. I think we did a good job of keeping the ball high.”

Sage Hill (8-6 overall) held its largest lead at 30-23 following a Kate Knollenberg free throw at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter.

The Wildcats (7-7) battled back, behind the play of their tenacious point guard Christine Hamakawa. The junior scored 17 points with nine rebounds, eight steals and three assists.

Hamakawa’s fifth three-pointer of the night gave the Wildcats their first lead since the 2:37 mark of the second quarter. Whitney held a 38-37 lead with 5:26 remaining, but the Lightning struck back.

“I’ve seen their point guard improve from year to year,” Lightning coach Kerwin Walters said of Hamakawa. “She is getting better every time I see her. Incredibly scrappy.

“To our credit, we were resilient. We bounced back. We controlled the game at the end.”

Walters said that Trinity Cha missed all of Sage Hill’s games in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego last week due to left knee tendinitis, but the sophomore point guard came up with a big play.

She intercepted a pass in the backcourt and passed the ball to Jogwe for the go-ahead layup with 3:30 left. The Lightning held on from there.

Cha had eight points, six rebounds and five assists. Kenna Knollenberg added seven points, six rebounds and four steals.

Sage Hill hosts Crean Lutheran on Friday at 6 p.m. as league play continues.

*

Sage Hill 47, Whitney 39

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Sage Hill 14 – 13 – 5 – 15 — 47

Whitney 14 – 9 – 7 – 9 — 39

SH – Elliott 16, Ka. Knollenberg 9, Cha 8, Ke. Knollenberg 7, Jogwe 5, Shayan-Smith 2.

3-pt. goals – Cha 2, Jogwe 1, Ke. Knollenberg 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

W – Hamakawa 17, Ho 7, Wu 6, Hosoda 4, Forest 3, Lee 2.

3-pt. goals – Hamakawa 5, Hosoda 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner