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Surviving on defense and rebounding, the Berkeley Yellowjackets won their first-round game in the First Annual Lady Yellowjacket Basketball Tournament on Thursday, defeating an outgunned Bonita Vista team 50-36. But against a weaker opponent, Berkeley’s front-line players struggled, leading coach Gene Nakamura to bench several of them for much of the second half. 

“I’d give my starters a D- for this game,” Nakamura said. “They didn’t hustle, and I’m very dissatisfied with their play.” 

The ’Jackets started fast, and their tough defense shut out the Barons for the entire first quarter, which ended with an 11-0 advantage for the home team. 

“We got a little over-confident after the first quarter,” said Berkeley forward Natasha Bailey. “We lost some intensity.” 

Coming off of a tough come-from-behind victory over Oakland High Tuesday, several ’Jacket starters looked tired, and it showed in their rough shooting. Juniors Bailey and Sabrina Keys and senior Robin Roberson combined to shoot just 7-for-30 from the field, and point guard Danielle Milburn tossed up eight shots from the outside, making just one three-pointer. Berkeley made just 20 of their 71 shots as a team. 

But the junkyard-dog defense of Nakamura’s squad carried them through, as the ’Jackets tallied 24 steals, mostly from their full-court press, and the Barons guards threw several other balls out of bounds. Roberson made up for a 2-for-13 shooting day by snagging eight steals, and off-guard Angelita Hutton grabbed five more. 

Hutton has been a revelation for the team this year, leading the team in scoring in two of the first three games. The junior scored 14 on Tuesday, the only Berkeley player to score in double figures. 

The Barons were led by senior Ashley Jensen, who scored 16 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the outcome was already decided. Jensen got little help, as her guards could barely get the ball past half-court most of the time. 

Nakamura said he is considering changing his lineup for Friday’s second-round matchup against Sacred Heart Prep. (Atherton) to inject some energy into his team. 

“I’m just waiting for some people to step out and prove they want to start,” Nakamura said. “Until then, I’ll just shuffle them in and out like I did today.” 

Berkeley will take on Sacred Heart in the semi-finals Friday at 8:30 p.m. 

Other first-round games: 

Sacred Heart Prep. (Atherton) 41, Atwater 32 

A third-quarter burst, fueled by Melissa Bayol’s back-to-back three-pointers, led Sacred Heart past Atwater in the first game of the day. Bayol scored 10 points in the game, and teammate Haley Woods scored 11 in the victory. 

Both teams went scoreless for five minutes in the second quarter, but Sacred Heart was much faster to shake off the scoring blues. They put the game away with a 6-0 run in the final period to earn a second-round matchup with host Berkeley High. 

Piedmont 47, Chino 24 

After jumping out to a 6-0 lead, the Piedmont Highlanders never looked back. Chino never had a lead in the game, and no Cowgirl scored more than six points. Piedmont closed out any hope for the Cowgirls with a 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter. 

Piedmont will face Bishop Gorman in the semi-finals Friday at 7 p.m. 

Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) 66, Kennedy (Richmond) 34 

A close game through most of the first half turned into a rout as Bishop Gorman outscored Kennedy 28-13 in the second half. Bishop Gorman guard Liz Cansdale scored a first-round-high 23 points, and her backcourt partner Breona Gray poured in 19 to lift their team to victory. 

The halftime score of 34-21 became a sure win for the most far-flung team in the tournament when the Las Vegans wnet on a 19-2 run in the third quarter.