City Section

CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS

Saturday, March 6

Championships

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

Crenshaw 51, Narbonne 49
Harbor City Narbonne’s four consecutive City Section girls basketball championships didn’t faze Lynea Williams. The senior forward simply wouldn’t let Crenshaw lose.

Williams scored a game-high 22 points, including the game-winning basket with 45 seconds remaining to give the Cougars a 51-49 victory and their first section title in seven years Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

Crenshaw (28-1) denied Narbonne the opportunity to win a record five titles in a row. Williams was the driving force as she scored the Cougars’ final eight points, two coming on a putback that gave them their first lead of the game at 47-45 with 2:55 left.

“We didn’t panic, we kept our focus and we kept playing defense,” Williams said. “I wanted to win so bad and I had to pick it up for my team.”

Narbonne (19-8) had two chances to tie the game on its final possession. Camille LeNoir drove the lane but her running shot hit the front of the rim. Morghan (cq) Medlock, who led the Gauchos with 22 points and 14 rebounds, got the rebound but missed the short putback with two seconds left.

“It just came down to who wanted it more,” Narbonne Coach James Anderson said. “We were up by eight [with seven minutes left]. How many second shots did they get?”

Williams kept Crenshaw close in the first half by scoring nine of the Cougars’ 15 second-quarter points. The senior forward caught a long pass from Tara Buck and made a layup as the halftime buzzer sounded to cut Narbonne’s lead to 25-21.

Medlock scored 10 of her points in the third quarter to push the Gauchos’ lead to 41-34 entering the fourth but that couldn’t keep the Cougars from extending their winning streak to 27 games.
--Eric Stephens

Crenshaw 6 15 13 17 - 51
Narbonne 10 15 16 8 - 49

CRENSHAW-Flemming 3, Adams 9, Carter 4, Sheppard 10 and 9 rebounds, Williams 22 and 8 rebounds, Garth 3.

NARBONNE-Perry 2, LeNoir 4, Boyd 9 and 9 rebounds, Ibekwe 2, Grant 9, Alexander 1, Medlock 22 and 14 rebounds.

INVITATIONAL DIVISION

Gardena 47, Jefferson 46