2-A Girls : Turner Keeps Guard Up as El Camino Wins, 75-42

Sharon Turner is recognized as San Diego County’s finest prep girls basketball player. And the El Camino High School guard did nothing to alter her image Wednesday.

Turner, a 5-foot 9-inch senior, scored 35 points, 16 in the first quarter, to lead the Wildcats to a 75-42 win against University in the San Diego Section 2-A championship game at the San Diego Sports Arena.

In spite of Turner’s first quarter display, El Camino (26-1) played one of its finest eight-minute stretches of the season in the third quarter, when it outscored University, 26-2.

El Camino let a 38-16 second quarter lead slip to 38-24 when University scored the final six points before halftime.

“Whenever we stop pressing, we seem to relax,” El Camino Coach Ray Johnson said. “But when we press, our intensity increases. That’s why we press so much.”

El Camino is never hardpressed to score with the likes of Turner, who is the county’s all-time scoring leader, and center Vicki Evans, who scored 16 points on Wednesday.

“Vicki dominates inside like Sharon dominates outside,” Johnson said. “Vicki was outstanding. She has really come a long way since last year.”

Evans, a 6-0 senior, also finished with 10 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 blocked shots. Forward Sheri Williamson, a 5-11 senior, added a game-high 14 rebounds.

University standout Heidi Erpelding scored 16 points to lead the Dons (21-4). She scored 12 in the first half, but was shutout during El Camino’s strong third quarter. “Heidi was having a tough time,” Johnson said. “At times she had to go through three or four people. I think she got tired toward the end. That’s just too much to put on one player’s shoulders.”

El Camino lost last season’s 2-A title game to Point Loma, 64-47. But hopes for a championship rematch ended when Point Loma switched to the 3-A prior to the 1984-85 school year.

“I would’ve liked to play Point Loma,” Johnson said. “Vicki Evans and Terri Mann (Point Loma’s 6-1 center) would’ve been a good matchup.”