Girls’ basketball: Bethel Baptist ‘steals’ share of first place

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Priscilla Hoang of Bethel Baptist made two steals in the final 28 seconds and turned them into game-clinching scores as the Warriors grabbed a share of first place in the Express League with a 46-40 victory over Connelly on Wednesday night in Santa Ana.

Hoang’s heroics broke a 40-40 tie and capped Bethel Baptist’s gradual second-half comeback. Hoang finished with 20 points and Angie Ruiz added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors, who outscored the Koalas, 16-8, in the fourth quarter.

Coach Joe Roussel has engineered quite a turnaround in his first season at Bethel Baptist, considering the Warriors went 0-8 in the San Joaquin League last winter.

Amber Alcaraz scored nine points for visiting Connelly, which had edged Bethel Baptist, 40-38, in the teams’ previous encounter in Anaheim. The loss ended the Koalas’ nine-game winning streak.

Now the question is, which of these evenly-matched teams will fare better in the Division V-A playoffs?

-- Steve Galluzzo

-- Image from www.fsdb.k12.fl.us