GIRLS' BASKETBALL: AYALA IS TOO MUCH FOR N.D.

Byline: ROMAN VEYTSMAN Special to the Daily News

Having lost just one game the entire summer, Ayala of Chino cruised in the Bell-Jeff Summer Hoop Final, fending off Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks 50-32.

Even though 18 points is the closest a team has come to defeating Ayala in five games,coach Mel Sims had to nitpick.

``I think we're going through the motions, we've played a lot of games this summer,'' Sims said.

Highly touted juniors Jasmine Holliday and Rebekah Gardner paced Ayala with 17 and 12 points, respectively, with most of the team's baskets coming in transition after steals from a suffocating full-court pressure defense.

``Our philosophy is we don't want to give you free trips down the floor,'' Sims said. ``You get free shots, but we're going to make you work.''

Gardner was the second-leading scorer in the state last season as a sophomore, earning Southern Section Div. II-AA first-team honors while averaging 28.8 points per game. Holliday averaged more than 15 points last season.

With Notre Dame missing four starters, Holliday and Gardner might have just been going through the motions in a performance Sims called ``lousy,'' yet the duo were the best players on the floor.

``They're kids and it's been a long summer, so I don't know what's going through they're heads,'' Sims said. ``They were playing like it was no big deal.''

Notre Dame cut the lead to 23-14 in the second quarter, but Ayala pulled away by scoring the half's last eight points and adding four to begin the second half to jump out to a 35-14 lead. Holliday scored three consecutive field goals to fuel the 12-0 run.

Notre Dame was led by Christine Fukushima, who scored 14 points.

In the third-place game, Garfield of Los Angeles defeated Bell-Jeff of Burbank 37-35.

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