Girls’ Basketball: Cajon defeats the defending champions

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The cheering section for second-seeded San Bernardino Cajon chanted ‘overrated’ when their team defeated defending champion Long Beach Poly, 52-44, in the Southern Section Division I-AA championship game at Santa Ana Mater Dei High. The Cowgirls (30-2) won their second section title in a row, claiming the Division II-A championship last year.

Long Beach Poly (27-3) cut Cajon’s 11-point halftime lead to six with an 8-3 run in the beginning of the third quarter. Cajon regrouped and recovered its sizable lead later in the third quarter and held on.

Cal-bound senior guard Layshia Clarendon scored 28 points and Arkansas-bound senior center Darshae Burnside had nine points and 17 rebounds for Cajon. The Jackrabbits held Burnside, who entered the game averaging 19 points, to less than half of her season average.

Junior forward Ta’Nitra Byrd scored 14 points in the first half, junior guard Brittany Wilson had 11 including three three-pointers, and senior center Monique Oliver had 10 points and nine rebounds for Poly.

Poly had a higher field-goal percentage, converting 34.5% to 31.5% for Cajon, but the Jackrabbits attempted less than one-third of the 18 free throws that the Cowgirls were awarded. Cajon scored 13 points off of free throws while Long Beach Poly scored only one.

–- Melissa Rohlin