More honours for Fotu, Bell, Perrott-Hunt and Salt

Pride of place in our weekly roundup of former Harbour players in American college basketball action goes to Ella Fotu.

The junior forward played a prominent role for Hawaii Pacific University Sharks as they clinched the NCAA Division II PacWest Conference Tournament title on Sunday.

Ella made a couple of critical three point plays as she scored 12 points and added 3 steals in a tight 77-71 win against Point Loma University in the Final played in Riverside, California.

Point Loma led 68-64 with three minutes to play before Fotu made a pair of telling plays. She dropped a triple to narrow the deficit to one and followed that with another three to regain the lead for the Sharks – one they would hold until the final buzzer.

The Sharks have had a hugely successful season boasting a programme best 26-3 season capped by a second PacWest title in four years. Ella has been at the heart of their success playing all 29 games, averaging 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal per outing.

Also securing a title at the weekend were the former Westlake duo Olivia Bell and Georgia Perrott-Hunt.

Olivia scored 12 points and added 6 rebounds, whilst Georgia contributed 2 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals, as North Dakota State Wildcats beat Dawson College 76-55 on their way to securing the NJCAA Region XIII title.

One again Jack Salt and the No 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers are close to the headline act. Virginia have won the Atlantic Coast regular season title for the third time in five years under head coach, and former Harbour Heat star, Tony Bennett. Not only that but they became the first team in ACC history to lose just one regular season conference game boasting a 17-1 record. Jack had 9 rebounds and 3 points against Louisville followed by 4 points and a pair of rebounds against Notre Dame in the final two regular season games before the play-offs.

Also heading to the ACC Tournament in good form are Sam Waardenburg and the Miami University Hurricanes. He didn’t post big numbers butSamsure played his part as the Hurricanes upset North Carolina 91-88 in an incredible finish to their penultimate Atlantic Coast regular season game.

When North Carolina guard tied the game with 4.1 seconds to play it appeared an overtime period was certain. However the Hurricanes Ja’Quan Newton hit a running 30-footer on the buzzer to stun the crowd at NCU. Waardenburg finished with 3 points (1/3 3PG), 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and a career best 4 assists.

The season has concluded for Isaac Letoa and Dartmouth College. Dartmouth failed to make the Ivy League play-offs in what has been a tough season – the team finishing with a 7-20 overall record.

Brooke Blair scored 14 points in her last home game for Idaho State Bengals in front of a good-sized home crowd. The Bengals beat Montana 72-60 and now head to Reno for the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

"Great crowd - 1,100 people -- Brooke played well and we won and sent her off the right way,” said Bengals head coach Seton Sobolewski.

Tiarna Clarke top scored with 19 points (4/8 3PG) for Northern Colorado Bears as they also head to the Big Sky Tournament on the back of a win. The Bears mauled Sacramento State 90-68. Tiarna has been in good form recently, averaging 15 points per game in her last five outings, making 15 from 29 three-point shots during that time.

It was a hugely disappointing end to the season for Fordham University Rams. The number three seeded Rams negotiated the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference play-offs with a comfortable 75-53 win against Rhode Island but were upset 52-49 by No 6 St Joseph’s in the quarter-finals. Zara Jillings had 5 rebounds and 5 assists against Rhode Island but had just a solitary rebound to show for her efforts against St Joe’s.

Saint Joseph’s had earlier progressed at the expense of Tera Reed and Virginia Commonwealth Rams defeating the Rams 72-63. Reed made 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals – some consolation for the former Westlake guard is that she finished her freshman season as the leading scorer for VCU averaging 14 points per game and was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Rookie Team after an outstanding first season where she led the VCU scoring in 17 of its 29 games.




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