first round socal division 1, girls March 9, 2000

Southern California D-I State Regionals First round games March 8, @ Home Schools* 7:30 p.m.			SoCal Round II March 10 @ Home Schools* 7:30 p.m.	SoCal Regional Finals March 11 Great Western Forum 6:30 p.m.	State Finals March 18
Troy (Fullerton) 40	@	*Narbonne (Harbor City, LA) 56	LB Wilson @ Narbonne		@Arco Arena 6:00 p.m. Saturday 3/18
Wilson (Long Beach) 53	@	*Mt. Carmel (San Diego) 47
Lynwood (Lynwood) 54	@	*JW North (Riverside) 49	Lynwood @ Hanford
Palisades (LA) 41	@	*Hanford (Hanford) 66

Narbonne 56, Troy 40--Narbonne, ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today led by just 7 points at the end of the third quarter, but Troy never got any closer as the team from Harbor City came one step closer to returning to the State Championship game. Narbonne was the 1998 winner but had its title taken away over allegations of illegal recruiting; last year the team was ineligible to participate in post season play. But this year, Narbonne has again returned to championship form. Narbonne's LaTasha O'Keith got a defensive rebound with five seconds remaining in the third quarter and went coast-to-coast for a score, sparking a 12-0 run that secured Narbonne's 41st consecutive victory. Narbonne (31-0) hosts Long Beach Wilson on Friday. Wilson defeated San Diego Section champion Mt. Carmel, 63-47. Troy, the top-ranked team from Orange County, finished 27-5. Lisa Willis hit two three-point baskets from the corner to spark the final run by Narbonne. Willis finished with 11 points, while Loree Moore, scored 14 and eight steals. USC-signee Ebony Hoffman scored nine points and had a game-high 13 rebounds for Narbonne. Troy was only 7 for 23 from the field in the second half, 2 for 11 in the fourth quarter.Junior guard Veronica Johns-Richardson (14 points, 5 assists) caused a host of problems for the Gauchos driving the lane, passing off an impressive display of overall leadership. She helped Troy stay in contention. A behind-the-back pass to Katie Hardeman trimmed the Gauchos' lead to 39-30 with 2:45 to play in the third quarter. Then Johns-Richardson scored and later passed to Amanda Livingston for a basket that cut the lead to 39-34 with 55 seconds to play in the period. Johns-Richardson, who had a team-high eight rebounds, scored 14, but only two in the second half; she also had seven assists. Komaki scored eight. Sophomore Stefanie Schilling, Troy's third-leading scorer, played sparingly because of a knee injury.

Long Beach Wilson 63, San Diego Mt. Carmel 47--Dawn McCullouch scored 20 points and Sowo Varney had 19 for the Bruins (30-4) in the victory at Mt. Carmel. Wilson trailed, 30-25, at halftime but outscored Mt. Carmel, 19-4, in the third quarter. Jamie Campbell scored 12 points for Mt. Carmel (23-9). McCullough, who has signed with Rutgers, overcame shooting woes to score 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half. Sophomore Jamie Campbell led a balanced Mt. Carmel attack with 12 points. The game hinged on a third-quarter run that swallowed Mt. Carmel after it had taken a five-point halftime lead. After Cindy Doung's 12-foot jumper gave Mt. Carmel (23-9) a seven-point lead just 11 seconds into the second half, the Sundevils went cold. Wilson was all over the court in the third quarter, forcing eight turnovers and outrebounding the Sundevils 13-6. The Bruins outscored Mt. Carmel 19-4 in the quarter. McCullough, who has averaged 20 points a game through Wilson's playoff run which included a win over top-seeded Ayala and overcoming a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit in the Southern Section Division I-AA title game against Lynwood, made only 4-of-21 shots through the first three quarters. But she scored seven points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter as Wilson took a 53-38 lead with 5:15 to play. Mt. Carmel, which entered with a five-game winning streak, had leads of 6-2 and 10-6 early on. But Wilson came back to lead 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. When Wilson turned the ball over four times on its first five possessions of the second quarter, the Sundevils took advantage of it to score six quick points and take a 20-15 lead on a steal and layup by Cindy Nieves with 5:45 to play. Campbell and Robin Weiser of Mt. Carmel each picked up their third fouls in the second quarter, but seven different Sundevils scored in the period and they were able to build a 30-25 halftime lead. Mt. Carmel's starters scored 26 of their 30 points in the first half, led by Campbell with eight.

Lynwood 54, JW North 49--The Knights (27-5), the Southern Section I-AA runners-up, advanced to the regional semifinal with the victory over the I-A champion at J.W. North. Ending North's 14-game winning streak, Lynwood (28-5) used its quickness to disrupt North's offense and build a quick 10-point lead. Third-seeded North (27-4) spent most of the night battling back, finally catching the Knights in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Trying to stay with a quick Lynwood team in a run-and-gun battle, North's short bench was taxed by foul trouble. After committing just four turnovers in the first half of its Division 1A title-game victory over Fullerton Troy Saturday, the Huskies committed eight in the first quarter against Lynwood. The Knights sprinted to a 12-2 lead and North was fortunate to be within eight at the end of the period. Lynwood led by as much as 12 in the second quarter, but North made its move in the third, pulling within two. Center Keisha Moore had to sit out the final 3:51 of the third quarter and Tamara Thomas fouled out with 4:58 left in the game, drawing back-to-back fouls in a 15-second span. The Huskies' fourth-quarter efforts were also stymied by a couple of costly misses: a layup that would have given them the lead halfway through the fourth quarter and an uncontested short bank shot that would have pulled them within one with three minutes left. Instead, North was forced to foul in desperation. And Lynwood, coming off a late fourth-quarter collapse in the Division 1AA championship game, wasn't about to let another one slip away. The Knights hit 10 of 12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, one of the misses coming after the outcome was sealed. Moore led North with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Shandrika Lee scored 14 points. North held Lynwood's top offensive player, LaConia Hatcher, without a field goal in the second half. Alicia Gardner had 14 points and four steals for Lynwood, and Hatcher finished with 12 points.

Hanford 66, LA Pacific Palisades 41--Amy Parrish scored 20 points and Shawntinice Polk added 17 points and 16 rebounds for Hanford (31-3) in the victory at home. Hanford led, 17-7, at the end of the first quarter and increased its lead to 36-24 by halftime. After the teams traded baskets to open the third quarter, Hanford went on a 14-point run. Jenny Thigpin had 15 points for Hanford. Itricia Ewells scored 19 points for Palisades (22-4).