Southern Section Girls’ Small Schools : Boron Is the Champion, 47-42

Debbie Shaw had the ball and a possible tie game in her hands with a minute left.

But the senior from Flintridge Sacred Heart missed the easy driving layup after making a key steal, and the Tologs could get no closer. They were defeated by Boron, 47-42, for the Southern Section girls’ Small Schools championship Friday night at La Canada High.

“I expected her to make the layup,” said winning Coach Brad Wiggs, whose team finished the season with a school-record 17 straight victories and a 19-3 record. “But I thought that with the experienced players we have, if we could maintain the composure we had shown up to that point, we’d be all right.”

Boron, which had led by as many as eight points with 5:54 left in the third quarter, took only a 34-32 lead into the final period. Sarah Banales’ nine third-quarter points kept Sacred Heart in the game.

Banales, who finished with 13 points, hit an eight-foot jumper from with one second left on the 30-second clock and 6:55 remaining in the game to tie the score, 34-34. But Boron regained its eight-point lead with 4:20 left on a 10-2 run highlighted by Kim Fairchild’s five points. Fairchild, voted most valuable player in the game, finished with a game-high 23 points.

“She is twice as good as anyone we’ve seen this year,” Sacred Heart Coach Bill Sanchez said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see her go to Division I.”

The Tologs (22-4), whose school-record 17-game winning streak was stopped, cut their deficit to 44-42 with 1:17 left on an 18-footer by Sandy Shaw, a junior guard. Shaw scored her team’s last eight points and finished with a team-high 14.