SoCalHoops CIF State Tournament News

CIF SoCal Girls Regional Finals:
All The Details--(Mar. 12,  2000)

These are not, of course, all the details from the Southern Regional Finals from yesterday, but just the ones we were able to locate and write about given the limited time we had this weekend in front of the computer. . . .The Finals are next week in Sacramento.  See you there.  

Girls Southern Regionals

Scores at a glance:

Division I Girls SoCal Regional Championship

Narbonne 69, Hanford 40--For a half, Hanford High played with the No. 1 team in the nation. In fact, the Bullpups held a one-point lead at halftime.  Then, the Narbonne Gauchos proved their lofty reputation and undefeated record was no fluke.  Turning up the defensive intensity and shifting its running game into high gear, Narbonne jumped all over Hanford 69-40 to earn a berth in next Saturday's girls' Division 1 championship. It happened pretty much the same way when the teams met in December. The Bullpups led after the first quarter in that one before losing 63-39. But when Amy Parrish scored the last eight points of the first half to give Hanford a 23-22 lead and stun a sparse crowd at the Great Western Forum, it put Narbonne behind at halftime for only the second time in a 33-0 season.  Narbonne scored the first 12 points of the second half and never looked back.  On the first possession of the second half, Hanford turned the ball over on the inbounds pass and Amber Pruitt converted an inside basket. That set the stage as the Bullpups turned the ball over on five of their first seven possessions before Polk scored a 3-point play 3 minutes 44 seconds into the half. The official second-half turnover count was 13, but that seemed well short of reality.  Moore took over the game in the second half. She was at the center of Narbonne's 24 second-half points in transition with 15 points, seven assists and four steals.  With the help of a 22-11 rebounding edge, the Gauchos jumped out to a 48-32 lead after three quarters and won going away.  The one constant for Hanford was poor shooting. Even in the first half, when they made a game of it, the Bullpups were 9 for 31. Even though many of their shots were within four feet, the overall count was 15 for 54 (27.8%).  Another factor that can't be ignored is the bus time both teams spent getting to the Southern Regional championship. Narbonne had a 20-minute ride; Hanford had a four-hour ride, magnified by the fact that it played a double-overtime game Friday.   Reaching the Southern Regional finals for the first time and a Central Section record 32 victories against just four losses set the stage for next season for Hanford, which starts four juniors and a sophomore. In as big a game as the Bullpups have played in going 32-7 the past two seasons, Parrish scored 20 points and Polk had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Division II Girls SoCal Regional Championship

Brea Olinda 52, Redondo Union 44--Senior center Chelsea Trotter scored 28 points and had 18 rebounds at the Forum as the defending state-champion Ladycats avenged a defeat against Redondo Union to win their ninth regional title.  Brea (28-6) will play Pleasanton Amador Valley in the state championship game Friday in Sacramento.  Redondo Union (28-6) had defeated Brea by 11 points last week in the Southern Section II-AA final, ending the Ladycats' streak of 11 consecutive section titles.  Trotter, who scored 17 points and had 17 rebounds Thursday against Santana, scored eight points during the fourth quarter against Redondo Union, helping Brea overcome a 34-32 deficit to take a 40-34 lead with about 5:30 left.  Stephanie Wong led Redondo Union with 14 points.

Division III Girls SoCal Regional Championship

Bishop Montgomery 88, Kearny 72--Sophomore guard Brittney Thomas scored 23 points and freshman center Lauren Ervin scored 22 and had 18 rebounds at the Forum to lead the Knights (28-3) to their fourth regional title.   Bishop Montgomery will play Petaluma next Saturday in the state final.  Bishop Montgomery led Kerney (18-14) by 13 points at the end of the first quarter and 42-18 at halftime.  Freshman guard Noelle Quinn added 16 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for Bishop Montgomery.  The Lady Knights led by 31 points heading into the final eight minutes.  Freshmen Lauren Ervin and Noelle Quinn combined for 38 points and 31 rebounds. As a team, the Komets had 30 rebounds.  Aged veteran Brittany Thomas, Bishop Montgomery's leading scorer with 23, is a sophomore. Of the 88 points, all but 10 were scored by those who will not be attending the senior prom.  And the statistics don't even begin to tell the dominance of the Lady Knights (28-3). Clearly, yesterday Los Angeles-area basketball was light years ahead of the best in San Diego.    Actually, the Komets (18-14 with 11 losses by forfeit) led 6-0 before Bishop Montgomery settled down and scored with 4:20 to play in the first quarter. Over the next 4:18, the Komets were outscored 20-0.  If that wasn't enough to send Kearny spinning, a 13-0 run midway through the second quarter did it, resulting in a 41-18 halftime bulge that grew and grew until Ervin drove the middle for an uncontested layup to push the advantage to 66-35.  After Bishop Montgomery pulled their starters, the Komets showed what they could have done if both freshmen weren't in the game at the same time, outscoring Bishop Montgomery 33-18 in the fourth quarter.  Triola Alexander, who was averaging 30.3 points a game, got 24 but hit only 8-of-27 shots and was limited to 10 rebounds. Although Latasha Lewis added 18 points and Elainea Washington 17, the Komets didn't lose this one by not scoring.  Instead, it was the inability to play defense and giving up 47 rebounds, 29 on the offensive end. There were precious few times down the court that Bishop Montgomery didn't score, even if it took four or five shots.   Conversely, Kearny hit just 37 percent of its shots (27-of-73), including 8-of-21 from beyond the arc. 

Division IV Girls SoCal Regional Championship

St. Bernard 67, La Jolla Bishop's 46-- Playa del Rey St. Bernard 67, La Jolla Bishop's 46--Liesl Griffin scored six points as the Vikings outscored the Knights, 17-6, in the decisive third quarter at the Pyramid.  St. Bernard (26-5) turned a 29-24 halftime lead into a 46-30 advantage by the end of the third quarter.  Shannon Howell had 21 points and Alexis Kendricks added 13 points as the second-seeded Vikings advanced to the state final for the third time in four seasons. Kirsten Grimm had 13 points for top-seeded Bishop's (28-2). After the Knights took a 6-2 lead to open the game, St. Bernard (26-5) clamped down on defense and set up its offense. Shannon Howell hit the first of her two 3-pointers in the quarter to give the Vikings their first lead of the game, 7-6. Howell finished with a game-high 21 points and five assists. The Bishop's kept it close, and the game was tied, 15-15, when St. Bernard went on a 7-0 run. Howell's driving and spinning one-handed layup to end the quarter capped the run. After a tight second quarter, St. Bernard took control of the game in the third. The Vikings scored six unanswered points to open the quarter and stretched their lead to 10 points, 38-28, on a Shannon Clay free throw. St. Bernard expanded its lead to 16 points on a 10-footer by Chereese Waters. The Bishop's cut the margin to 13 before St. Bernard closed the game with an 8-0 run. Kirsten Grimm led the Knights with 13 points and five rebounds, and teammate Brianna Winn added 10 points. Clay finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, Kendricks had 13 points and Melanie Mosley added eight points, five rebounds and a block. The victory put St. Bernard in position to win its second state title since 1998.

Division V Girls SoCal Regional Championship

Santa Fe Christian 57, Pilgrim 41--Brandi Collato wasn't perfect, but she was pretty darn close.  The Santa Fe Christian junior had a streak of 49 straight successful free throws in the last four playoff games end when her 50th attempt hit inside the rim, bounced up to the glass, back down to the rim and rolled out.  By then her streak may have been over, but so was the game.  Collato finished with 39 points, 15 rebounds and 20-of-21 free throws as the Eagles beat Los Angeles Pilgrim 57-41 yesterday in the CIF Southern California Division V Regional championship game at The Pyramid.  Santa Fe Christian (30-5) advanced to the Division V state final against Northern California Regional champion Redwood Christian (24-5) of San Lorenzo. The game is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.   Collato, a 5-foot-7 guard/forward, entered yesterday's game with a streak of 32 free throws in a row, breaking the CIF-San Diego Section record of 31 set last year by by Kearny's Triola Alexander.  Collato made her last 10 in the San Diego Section championship March 4, was 8-of-8 in the regional opener Tuesday against Hemet Baptist and was 14-of-14 in Thursday's semifinal upset of No. 1-seeded Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo. Collato made her first 17 against Pilgrim, missed and then finished the game making her final three.  Although Collato entered the week averaging 25.8 points a game and had playoff performances of 28, 38 and 39 points, it can be costly to consider the Eagles a one-girl team.  Before Collato got on the scoreboard, 5-9 senior Amanda Gilcrease (two points, nine rebounds) scored on an inbounds play under the basket and 5-5 junior guard Carrie Hague (two points) converted an offensive rebound.  In the second half, 5-11 junior Kelly Bull (eight points), who was hobbling on an injured knee, hit a hook shot to open the third period. When the Eagles were struggling against Pilgrim's full-court press in the fourth quarter, Bull finished two press-breaking plays for field goals to give SFC a 42-36 lead with 5:27 left in the game. 

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