Girls’ Basketball: CdM routs Uni

One of the most talented and successful classes in Corona del Mar High girls’ basketball history celebrated its senior night Friday night.

Natalia Bruening, Krista Anderson and Kelly Tam have been playing on varsity since they were freshmen. They started the game, along with fellow seniors Kat Hess and Melody Yoo.

CdM has gone 62-24 in the last three seasons so far, with a Pacific Coast League title, two CIF semifinal appearances and two CIF State playoffs appearances.

The class of 2016 made sure that it did senior night right, too.

The Sea Kings earned a 56-32 victory over University, avenging one of their two league losses and staying alone in second place with two games remaining.

“It’s exciting to experience it for ourselves,” said Anderson, who had six points and six rebounds, of senior night. “We’ve watched all the other seniors do it throughout the years, so it’s kind of cool to come full-circle. I mean, it’s sad to know it’s coming to an end, but it’s awesome that we stuck together and did it together.”

The UC Santa Barbara-bound Bruening had 18 points and nine rebounds for Corona del Mar (18-5, 6-2 in league), which stayed a game behind Woodbridge in the standings. The Warriors defeated Northwood, 53-45, in another league game Friday night.

“We can’t worry about that,” CdM Coach Mark Decker said of rooting Woodbridge to lose next week. “We just have to get better. If something happens, that’s great, but we can’t control that ... . I think if we play like this, we’re really, really tough. But consistency has been a problem for us. Let’s do it [Saturday] against Edison. Let’s do it next week and finish up and really build some momentum for CIF. I’ll feel good if we can do that.”

The 57-51 loss at University in the first round of league is what is keeping CdM behind Woodbridge, the team with which it shared the league title last year, at the moment. In that game, the Sea Kings were outscored 18-3 in the first quarter.

Starting slow was not a problem Friday night for CdM, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 3A. Tam, bound for San Diego Christian College, had 11 points and got hot in the second quarter for CdM, with a pair of three-pointers. The Sea Kings charged to a 33-13 halftime advantage.

Senior guard and team captain Allison Piper, who scored 17 in the teams’ first meeting, was scoreless in the first half for University (14-9, 3-5). Piper got hot in the third quarter, scoring all 11 of her points, but by then the Sea Kings had built a sizable cushion. They were on their way to handing University by far the most lopsided of its five league losses.

Bruening was dominant inside, making seven of her eight field-goal attempts. On the defensive end, she blocked five shots.

“We knew that their only chance was to pressure us, and last time we did not handle it very well,” Decker said. “I feel like we were really prepared [tonight] and the girls responded really well. We felt like this is how the game should go when we play them. Obviously, we didn’t do that last time, but we wanted to make sure that, especially on senior night, the girls were really focused and came out with a purpose.”

Hess scored eight and Yoo had seven for CdM, including a three-pointer. Bruening’s freshman sister, Tatiana, had four points and four rebounds.

Decker had to smile when CdM freshman Sami Uehara did her best James Worthy impression in the final minute of the game, scoring on a finger-roll in the lane for her team’s final points. CdM was on its way to a big win.

The Sea Kings play host to Edison on Saturday night at 5 in a nonleague game, and finish league play at Northwood on Tuesday and at last-place Irvine on Thursday. Woodbridge plays at Beckman on Tuesday and is home against University on Thursday.

“We’ve just got to play our best and finish league strong,” Tam said.

—

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 56, University 32

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Uni 6 – 7 – 13 – 6 — 32

CdM 14 – 19 – 13 – 10 — 56

Uni – Piper 11, Shin 6, Goldsmith 5, Blailock 4, Iranmanesh 3, Nolan 2, Choroomi 1.

3-pt. goals – Piper 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – N. Bruening 18, Tam 11, Hess 8, Yoo 7, Anderson 6, T. Bruening 4, Uehara 2.

3-pt. goals – Tam 2, Yoo 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.