Girls’ basketball: St. Anthony is the Div. 5A champion

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Revenge, sweet revenge.

After losing by 38 points to Montclair Prep last season in a quarterfinal, top-seeded St. Anthony defeated Montclair Prep, 57-47, tonight in the Southern Section Division 5A championship at Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Montclair Prep trailed 26-15 at halftime, then opened the third quarter on an 8-1 run to come within 6 points of the Saints with 4:25 left on the clock. St. Anthony rallied back behind the offensive power of Jourdan Cooper and Rina Towne to take a cushy 38-25 lead to close the third.

The Mounties narrowed the gap to 48-42 with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth after Kimberly Scamman was fouled on a layup and converted her free throw, but St. Anthony once again took control of the game.

Cooper scored 12 points, Raquel Johnson had nine and Rina Towne added eight for St. Anthony. Scamman led Montclair Prep with 18 points and Chantel Dooley contributed 12.

St. Anthony won its first championship since it claimed the Division 5AA title in 2000. Montclair Prep made its first championship appearance since 2002.

--Melissa Rohlin