San Diego Prep Basketball : GIRLS 3-A: Point Loma to Pose Problem for Fallbrook

Fallbrook High School girls basketball Coach Buck White understands that his team is an overwhelming underdog against Point Loma in today’s San Diego Section 3-A championship game.

“If we get beat by 30 points,” White said, “then we’re one of a long list of teams. But if we beat them, it will be the greatest thing since sliced bread. That’s the attitude we’re going into the game with.”

Fallbrook will tip off against Point Loma at 4:30 p.m. The Pointers (24-0), the top-rated girls team in San Diego County, are 53-0 over the last two seasons and were state 2-A champions last season.

“Everybody they put on the floor can play,” White said.

Point Loma is led by 6-1 sophomore Terri Mann, who was the county’s No. 2 scorer with a 25.2 points-per-game average. The Pointers’ had the No. 2 offense (69.6 points scored per game) and the county’s top defense (30 points allowed per game).

In the semifinals on Friday against Mount Carmel, Mann had 17 points and 15 rebounds, and teammate Chanelle McCoy added 22 points in leading Point Loma to a 63-29 win.

But White is quick to point out that Point Loma does have an opponent today.

“Nobody’s beaten us down here either,” Buck said.

Indeed, Fallbrook’s 20-4 record is deceiving because none of the losses were to teams in San Diego County. Fallbrook upset defending 3-A Division champion Santana on Saturday, 58-53, in the semifinals. Santana was 23-0 entering the game. Fallbrook senior Nicole Jann was exceptional against Santana with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

“Nicole is one of the most natural athletes I’ve ever had,” said White, who will become the basketball coach at MiraCosta Junior College next season after 11 years as Fallbrook’s head coach. “The better the competition is, the better she plays. I expect her to have a great game against Point Loma.”