Diamant fuels Gaels’ rout over Bengals

With two minutes left in Tuesday’s game at Bonanza, Dannielle Diamant fired a ball of tape at a trash can at the end of Bishop Gorman’s bench — and missed badly.

It was just about the only hiccup the Gaels’ 6-foot-4-inch senior had all night.

Diamant made 9 of 12 shots from the field and had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to lead visiting Gorman (15-3, 7-0) to a 76-50 rout of Bonanza (16-2, 5-1) in a battle of the top two girls teams in the Southwest League.

“Dannielle is just too big,” said Bonanza coach Dean Bosch, whose team’s tallest player is only 5-10. “We tried some different things on her, and none of it worked.”

Bonanza had no answer for Gorman’s inside game. The Gaels racked up 56 points in the paint, making 28 of their 32 field goals from close range.

“They have so much talent,” Bosch said. “That’s why they’re the best in our league. We know what they’re going to do, and we still can’t stop them.”

Diamant, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Northwestern, gave the Bengals the most fits.

When she caught the ball in the paint and the Bengals sunk low to double- or triple-team her, she simply dished the ball to a teammate for an easy basket.

“We had really good movement of the ball,” Diamant said. “We made good passes and shared the ball.”

If Bonanza didn’t try to double-team her, Diamant took easy shots.

“My first two years I prided myself on my shot,” Diamant said. “Getting more experience playing inside has really helped me improve.”

Gorman had only nine turnovers in the game but led just 32-25 at the half.

A quick 12-2 run to start the third quarter allowed the Gaels to put the game away.

Aaryn Ellenberg added 17 points, Chelsie Pitt 12 and Yahindra Edwards 11 for the Gaels.

Aimee Doyle led Bonanza with 13 points. Daytril Beals added 12 and Christin Figgins 10.