San Diego Section Playoffs : El Camino Girls Win Despite Turner’s Exit

San Diego County’s all-time leading scorer, Sharon Turner, has received most of the credit this season for the success of the top-seeded El Camino girls’ basketball team.

In the 2-A semifinals Friday night at Mira Mesa High, fifth-seeded San Marcos learned that El Camino has a lot more talent than Turner.

The Wildcat star had only 10 points after fouling out three minutes into the third quarter, but El Camino rolled into the final with a 65-35 victory over the Knights.

El Camino (25-1) will play Wednesday in the Sports Arena against the winner of University and Hilltop in a semifinal at 6 tonight at Serra.

“We’ve been a well-rounded team all year long,” Wildcat Coach Ray Johnson said. “It’s just that Sharon’s received most of the attention. Obviously, our strength inside was the difference.”

El Camino center Vicki Evans and forward Pat Poore had 19 and 16 points, respectively.

Turner’s fields goal midway through the second quarter gave El Camino a 26-15 lead. San Marcos (21-7) never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The Knights, who were limited to two field goals in the first half, were led by guard Robin Paladino, who finished with 14 points.

In 3-A girls semifinal action:

Point Loma 63, Mount Carmel 28--Point Loma point guard Channele McCoy had a game-high 22 points and All-County forward Terri Mann had 17 points and 20 rebounds to beat the Sundevils.

Julie Saenz and Gina Colberg led the Sundevils with 6 points each.

The Pointers were never challenged in this physical game, which seemed to resemble rugby at times. A 15-0 spurt in the third quarter gave the Pointers a 54-18 lead with 1:55 left in the quarter. That margin expanded to 40 early in the fourth quarter on a jumper by McCoy and a free throw and basket by Mann.

“They had more jumping ability and height than we did,” Colberg said.

Mount Carmel could not contend with the Pointers’ 6-foot 3-inch Mann or 6-4 center Jessica Denton. But it was the smallest Pointer on the floor, McCoy, who did in the Sundevils.

“I’m the mom of the team,” McCoy said. “I’m the leader of the team. They depend on me.”

The Pointers depended heavily on McCoy in the first half when she scored 14 points to lift her team to a 35-16 lead.