It was quite an eventful Friday evening on South County high school basketball playing courts despite the damp weather outside.
It proved to be a history-making night in particular for Bonita Vista senior Shyla LaTone, who set a new San Diego Section single-game scoring record by dropping in 76 points in a 99-26 Mesa League victory at Hilltop.
LaTone’s 76 points eclipsed the existing record of 71 points set by Charde Houston in a game against Castle Park on Dec. 9, 2002. Houston attended San Diego High School from 2000 to 2004 where she set the California state scoring record of 3,837 points.
Houston won a WNBA championship with the Minnesota Lynx in 2011 after starring at the University of Connecticut.
BVHS head coach Tristan Lamb said at the beginning of the season not to be surprised if LaTone, in fact, set a new section scoring record this season after repeatedly breaking her own school record.
LaTone has recorded 864 points this season following Friday’s win.
In 107 career games at Bonita Vista, she has piled up 2,755 points. With a 39.3 scoring average in 2017-18, it is conceivable she could top 3,000 points in her career before her senior season is finished.
The 5-foot-5 point guard said she didn’t think she did anything other than she usually does when she took the court last Friday.
“I had no clue I was going to break the record that night,” she said. “ It’s a great feeling knowing that hard work is paying off.”
LaTone said she was motivated to improve on her previous on-court performance in a 65-60 win over visiting Eastlake that previous Monday.
“I was coming off of 18 points against Eastlake and I needed to do something about it, so I stepped up and did something about it,” she said. “My scoring was on fire that night.”
She credited her teammates with a hand in the victory.
“My team really stepped up,” the Lady Baron sharp-shooter said. “They were passing me the ball. My shot was falling. I couldn’t have done it without my team. They were a big part of my accomplishment that night.”
Bonita Vista head coach Tristan Lamb called it a special night.
“Shyla was on fire,” the Lady Baron coach said. “She was hitting shots from everywhere. It wasn’t like her shots were uncontested. Hilltop was stepping out, putting a hand in her face. It was just a special night for her. The basket was just huge for her.”
Lamb termed LaTone a player who makes her teammates better players due to her presence on the court.
“No matter who we’re playing that’s what she does, she motivates her teammates to make them better.
“Her main goal is to make the teammates around her better no matter how many points she scores.”
What are some of the qualities that make her such a special player?
“Savvy” is one word that Lamb uses to describe her play.
She has a high basketball IQ, so she understands the game,” Lamb said. “She understands how to attack, make the defense move before she makes that pass. She understands when to shoot and when to pass.”
Bonita Vista athletic director Jason Murphy noted the record-setting performance has certainly created its share of notoriety for both the Lady Barons team and LaTone in particular.
“It brings a lot of press to women’s basketball, which is a good thing,” Murphy said. “Just off the top of my head, before this amazing season she’s having, which is actually an amazing career, she didn’t get a lot of publicity, a lot of press.
“But because of these 76 points, Rutgers has called us, Wisconsin has called us. She’s definitely getting the notoriety she deserves because she’s a great player.”
LaTone is undecided at the moment about which college she will attend but does have plans on continuing her basketball career at the next level.
“That motivates me to become a better person and a better player for the future,” she said.
“I think she’ll have a lot of success beyond high school,” Lamb said.
The Lady Barons improved to 17-5 overall, 5-0 in league play, following Friday’s victory. Bonita Vista broke out to a 28-2 lead after the first quarter and added 31 points in each of the next two quarters to carry a dominating 90-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Barons missed hitting the century mark for the second time this season by out-scoring the Lady Lancers 9-4 in the final quarter.
LaTone entered the game with a 53 percent adjusted field goal percentage on the season but that ballooned to 71 percent during Friday’s game.
She made 20 of 28 field goal attempts (70 percent) and sank 10 of 15 three-point shots (67percent). She was six for seven on free throws (86 percent). She made 30 of 43 shots from the floor (field goals and three-pointers combined) for a 70 percent shooting average.
She said she knew the points would be piling up once her three-point shots started falling.
LaTone scored 42 points in the first half but played only one minute in the fourth quarter.
BVHS head coach Tristan Lamb said LaTone just went about her usual business during the game.
“The kids just worked hard (during the game),” Lamb said. “We didn’t know she was closing in on the record until the third quarter. She was playing her normal minutes and was just going about what she usually does but was having a good shooting day.”
LaTone broke her own school record of 63 points during the third quarter. Houston had set the existing section record with 71 points in three quarters of play. Lamb noted that LaTone scored 72 points in three quarters.
The BVHS scoring wizard added four points in the fourth quarter before exiting the game. She also contributed eight rebounds, four steals and two assists in Friday’s victory.
Her previous season high had been 57 points in a 100-75 win over Montgomery on Jan. 10. She scored 55 points in a 96-27 win over Morse on Dec. 27 and poured in 50 points in an 81-76 victory against Mater Dei Catholic on Jan. 5 to tip off league play.
Bonita Vista next hosts Olympian in a Mesa League game on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
Metro Conference Scoreboard
Friday, Jan. 19
Girls Basketball
Mesa League
Bonita Vista 99, Hilltop 26
Eastlake 75, Montgomery 66
Olympian 64, Mater Dei Catholic 56
South Bay League
Chula Vista 50, Sweetwater 20
Mar Vista at Castle Park, no report
Southwest at San Ysidro, no report
Boys Basketball
Mesa League
Mater Dei Catholic 68, Olympian 53
Montgomery 54, Eastlake 46
Bonita Vista 78, San Ysidro 70
South Bay League
Sweetwater 84, Chula Vista 54
Hilltop 63, Southwest 37
Castle Park at Mar Vista, no report
Boys Soccer
Mesa League
Eastlake 2, Montgomery 0
Southwest 2, Chula Vista 1
South Bay League
Sweetwater 6, Hilltop 1
Non-League
Otay Ranch 2, Mar Vista 1
Girls Soccer
Mesa League
Olympian 4, Bonita Vista 1
Chula Vista 0, Otay Ranch 0
South Bay League
Hilltop 1, Sweetwater 0
Mater Dei Catholic 3, San Ysidro 0
Non-League
Eastlake 1, Montgomery 0
