Behind the performances of 5-foot-9 senior Kelsey Plum and 6-foot freshman Mai-loni Henson, the La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) girls’ basketball team came up with a huge 51-31win over the Fullerton Troy Warriors (25-5) in a CIF Open Division Regional Quarterfinal playoff game played at Country Day on March 8.

“I think that playing a nationally ranked schedule has really helped us out,” said Plum.  “We can’t complain about it.”

For LJCD, only Plum (nine points), Henson (seven points), 5-foot-5 senior Brianne Yasukochi (five points) and 5-foot-9 sophomore Isabel Aguirre (one point) lit up the scoreboard in the opening half, but it was still enough to jump out to an early 22-7 lead as the two battling ballclubs headed to the locker rooms at halftime.

After the intermission, it was more of the same as Country Day continued to pour it on and had extended its advantage to 35-19 by the end of the third period.

The Lady Torreys were once again led by the play of Plum, who tossed in nine points in the quarter, while Henson and 5-foot-10 sophomore Cydney Collins added two points apiece in the period.

In the final stanza, Plum, Henson and Yasukochi paced LJCD with nine, five and two points, respectively, as Country Day closed out the victory down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

Backed by Henson’s 14 points, Plum would finish with a game-high 27 points and 13 rebounds of her own.

With the win, LJCD saw its record improve to 18-11.