PREP BASKETBALL : Girls Roundup : Brea-Olinda Finds a Different Way to Gain a Victory

Things have been going well for the Brea-Olinda High School girls basketball team this season. The Wildcats are ranked first in Orange County and first in the Southern Section’s 3-A division.

Brea-Olinda has achieved most of its acclaim because of the scoring of guards Carrie Egan and Jodi Kleiber.

Tuesday night against Hacienda Heights Wilson, however, Egan and Kleiber combined for only 19 points. But this season, Brea-Olinda can’t be beaten by just stopping its guards. Senior center Laura Thomas scored 25 points to lead the Wildcats to a 64-44 nonleague win over HH Wilson at Brea.

The win improved Brea’s season record to 14-0, the team’s best start ever. Wilson lost for only the second time this season to fall to 8-2.

Though the 20-point victory suggested a rout, Brea only led by one, 23-22, at halftime. HH Wilson employed a three-man zone--with two players assigned man-to-man coverage of Kleiber and Egan--to stifle Brea’s high-scoring guards. However, Thomas was left free to burn the Wildcats.

Brea finally got its fast-break attack on track in the third quarter, outscoring the Wilson, 23-10.

Fullerton 61, Walnut 58--Senior forward Pam Fritsch scored 16 points, including 6 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Indians to a nonleague win at Fullerton. Sandra Williams of Fullerton also scored 16 points.

Buena Park 47, Los Amigos 46--The Coyotes had 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Lobos then used a full-court press to get within one point at the end. Lulu Casanova’s 15-foot shot for Los Amigos with four seconds left missed, and the Coyotes had the win at Los Amigos. Stacy Rooney had 16 points for Buena Park. Kelly Grand led Los Amigos with 22 points.

Western 56, Huntington Beach 42--Melanie Williams scored 16 points as Shana Donnelly and Ana Maria Gill added 14 and 11 points, respectively. The Oilers trailed, 28-26, at halftime but were outscored, 17-4, in the third quarter. Freshman guard Stefanie Pemper led the Oilers with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Huntington Beach is 7-7.

Marina 39, Long Beach Wilson 34--Temre Kuester scored 12 points to lead Marina. Wilson’s Delores Shaug led all scorers with 18 points. Marina is 7-7.

In South Coast League action:

Capistrano Valley 40, San Clemente 13--Caylin Combs led Capistrano led 20 points and 13 rebounds. Center Heather Schoeny added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Mission Viejo 93, Dana Hills 29--Mission Viejo had six players score in double figures. Colleen Kelly led the Diablos with 19 points, Michelle Reid had 18, Debbi Drake had 14, Christy Wile had 14 and Lori Totosz and Shereen Loth each had 10. Dan Hills had 40 turnovers in the game. Roberta Forster led Dana Hills with 14 points.

El Toro 62, Irvine 30--Senior guard Vicki Mallett scored 23 points for the Chargers in the South Coast opener for both. Junior center Jennifer Uecke added 14 points and 9 rebounds for El Toro (7-4, 1-0). Dina Graham led Irvine with 10 points.

In Empire League action:

Esperanza 69 El Dorado 54--Jennifer Lapaglia scored 25 points while Charisse Simon added 17 points to lead the Aztecs. El Dorado junior guard Jill Matyuch had a good all-around game, scoring 28 points and pulling down 9 rebounds.

Kennedy 63, Los Alamitos 40-Jawanni Cousette and Ursela Lovely led the Fighting Irish with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Janelle Frese added 13 points.

Loara 38, Katella 37--Loara trailed, 21-14 at halftime but Shanna Beer and sisters Susan and Carolyn Osato combined for 14 points in the third quarter to edge the Knights to gain their third Empire league win.

In Sea View League action:

Newport Harbor 44, University 42--University came within a few free throws of winning its first game of the season. Jean Moao led University with 15 points. Katie Ho added 8 points.

Corona del Mar 44, Estancia 36--High scoring point guard Fran Wynn scored 18 points but fouled out in the third quarter. Wynn is averaging 24 points a game. The Sea Kings’ K.C. Jones picked up the slack scoring 14 points. Karen Rindone led Estancia with 12 points.

Woodbridge 71, Saddleback 40--Woodbridge got balanced scoring to open up league play with a win at home. Sharon Lyon had 18 points, Jill Daniels 17 points and Kelly Causey added 16 points for Woodbridge. The Warriors are 10-3. Saddleback is 0-2.

Costa Mesa 39 Laguna Beach 29--Stephanie Swanson had 13 points and 8 rebounds in this defensive struggle.

In Century League action:

Foothill 64, Tustin 23--Felice Geddy led Foothill with 11 points as 10 Knights scored in the game. Foothill is 10-3 on the season 1-0 in league play. Becky Sullivan pulled 11 rebounds coming off the bench.

In Angelus League action:

Mater Dei 59, Bishop Montgomery 40--Hallie Formanuck scored a career-high 21 points off the bench to lead the Monarchs to this league opening victory at Bishop Montgomery. Gerri Gainey added 12 points for Mater Dei.