Girls Basketball : Loara Hits Free Throws in Upset

Good free throw shooting in the fourth quarter gave Loara High School a 45-33 upset of Foothill in the semifinal round of the Cypress Tournament Friday night at Cypress High.

Loara made 9 of 10 free throws in the final quarter and employed a tough zone defense to hand the highly-regarded Knights their second loss in the last week.

Loara’s Liz Eldridge more than held her own against Foothill’s frontline of Jill and Jennifer Osur and center Chris McFerson. Eldridge, a 5-11 senior center, led all scorers with 15 points while holding those three well below their averages.

Foothill was led by the Osur sister’s, who both scored eight points. McFerson, who got into early foul trouble, scored only six points for the Knights.

Neither team had much offensive success as the score was tied, 2-2, with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Loara finally solved Foothill’s defense to take a 15-11 lead at halftime.

The Saxons pushed their advantage to 28-18 at the end of three quarters and, with the help of their good foul shooting, ended any hopes of a Foothill comeback.

Carolyn Osato added 10 points for Loara (10-3), which plays Riverside Poly in the championship game tonight.

In other Cypress Tournament action:

Ocean View 82, Cypress 29--The Seahawks rebounded from a disappointing, 61-52 loss to Riverside Poly Thursday--just their second of the season--to post their 10th win. Junior center Trina Vlachos scored a game-high 24 points, while guard Michelle Chomicz added 23 points and point guard Dana Douty had 6 points and 13 assists to lead Ocean View. The Seahawks, who cruised to a 42-11 halftime advantage, play Millikan at 3 p.m. today in the fifth-place game. Colleen Kelly, a 5-9 junior center, had 11 points for Cypress.

In nonleague action:

H.H. Wilson 59, El Dorado 49--Jill Matyuch scored 16 points for the Golden Hawks (3-2), but it wasn’t enough as Wilson won the nonleague game at Hacienda Heights. El Dorado managed a 26-24 halftime lead, but the Wildcats broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring El Dorado, 19-9. Wilson maintained that advantage in the fourth quarter. Wilson’s Michelle Richard led all scorers with 18 points.

In Sea View League action:

Costa Mesa 40, Saddleback 39--Roadrunner Monica Walton scored 24 points, but the Mustangs won the league opener for both teams. Costa Mesa led, 21-17, at halftime and managed to hold off a late Saddleback rally. The Mustangs shot just 12 for 50 for the game, which kept the game closer than it should have been. Valerie Palmer had a game-high 13 points and Patti Shillington chipped in 10 points for the Mustangs. Grace Terrado had 12, including two free throw with five seconds left in the game, for Saddleback.

Estancia 59, University 30--The Eagles led, 20-7, at the end of the first quarter and were never challenged in recording the league-opening win. Estancia’s Karen Rindone led all scorers with 18 points, while Brenda Jaeger and Leslie Self added 14 and 12 points, respectively. University (0-8 overall) was led by Cheryl Miller’s eight points.