Liam Archer is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Master's student assigned to cover Phoenix Country Day School for AZPreps365.com

PARADISE VALLEY – The No. 5 ranked Phoenix Country Day girls basketball team dominated on Friday evening, beating No. 20 Phoenix Christian 61-28, earning its fifth straight victory.

During the streak the Eagles have beaten each of their opponents by 20 or more points; four of them by 30 or more. 

The source of that offense comes from sibling duo Nara and Aila Kaibara, who average 19 and 11 points per game, respectively.

On Friday, it was Nara Kaibara and Jadynn Jones who led the charge for the Eagles. Kaibara finished with 20 points on 42% shooting from the 3-point line. 

“I shoot a lot,” Kaibara joked, “and we shoot a lot in practice. They just start going in and it makes my confidence go up.”

Phoenix Country Day coach Sean Newland said that this type of performance is business as usual for the junior guard.

“That’s just Nara, every night,” Newland said. “She leads 2A in 3-pointers per game. That’s just what she does. We’re very lucky to have her.”

As a team, the Eagles shot 35% on 23 three-point attempts.

“We make it an emphasis in practice to work on everybody’s shooting,” Newland said. “It makes us hard to guard when we’ve got four shooters out there that can knock down shots.”

Kaibara, who began the game with misses on four of her first five three-point attempts, was able to involve her teammates with her five assists on the night. One of her favorite targets: Jadynn Jones. 

Jones, who averages nearly nine points per contest, had an efficient night, quietly putting up 20 points on 69% shooting from the field, to go along with nine rebounds. 

Phoenix Country Day coach Sean Newland still wants more from his squad. “Some of these games test us a little bit early, and I know we ran away late, but it was still a really close game in the first half, in my opinion,” Newland said.

Phoenix Country Day (13-2) jumped out to an early 12-4 lead over Phoenix Christian (5-7) by the first timeout.

By halftime the Eagles led 29-14. In their previous two games, they had only allowed 17 and six points to the opposition in the entire game.

After the halftime break, the Eagles’ offense looked hungry, which Newland credited to their ball movement. “I thought our execution on offense was a little crisper," said Newton, "and then we started hitting shots, which is what we take pride in."

Phoenix Country Day had 18 assists on the night. Six of them came from the other half of the Kaibara duo, Aila. 

Aila, who entered the game averaging double figures, went scoreless in the second half. Despite that, she put in an all-around performance, finding her teammates for wide open shots. Many of those assists found her sister, Nara.

“We have a great connection on the court,” Nara said. “It’s a little hard sometimes because we’re siblings so we yell at each other, but it’s just really nice to have a family member on the court.”

The Eagles never trailed in Friday’s contest, and with only two games remaining in the regular season, Newland believes his team has grown over the course of the season. It’s because of that growth that he believes they’ll be ready come 2A playoff time.

“If we polish up our offense and keep working on our defense, I think we’ll be set,” Newland said. “We’ll be ready to go.” 

Phoenix Country Day (13-2) will host BASIS Phoenix (4-9) on Wednesday.