Louisville Lets Loose on Burroughs : Royals Shake First-Half Jitters for Win in Girls 3-A Playoff, 70-47

At halftime of Saturday night’s girls Southern Section 3-A playoff game between Burroughs of Ridgecrest and Louisville, Burroughs basketball Coach Jack Clark felt pretty good.

Even though his team trailed by 10, Clark was confident because the Royals had some serious foul problems. Three starters had three personals, while another had two fouls. The Burros had only four field goals in the first half, but stayed in the game by making 14 free throws.

Additionally, Clark pointed out, “there was nobody on Louisville who was killing us” on offense.

Clark had a different perspective after the second half.

“Andrea Knapp killed us,” he said after Louisville had coasted to a 70-47 win at Crespi High. “She is the best post player we’ve seen this year.”

Much like her team, Knapp had a slow first half. The 6-2 junior center--who came into the game averaging 22 points--had only five points in the first two quarters.

But she broke loose in the second half, scoring 11 points to finish with a team-high 16. She also helped Louisville (23-4) dominate the boards, collecting 13 rebounds. Additionally, Knapp had five blocked shots, four steals and two assists.

“I was getting down on myself in the first half,” said Knapp, who made just two of eight shots in the first half. “In the second half, I played my game. I kept my head under control and got in the right frame of mind.”

Knapp made five of her eight shots in the second half, including four early in the third quarter to increase Louisville’s lead from 32-22 at the half to 48-28.

Burroughs, which entered the playoffs as the third-place team from the Golden League, made its only serious run early in the fourth quarter. A three-point play by Grenoris Hearon brought the Burros (14-8) to within 11 with 6:47 left.

But the Royals, the San Fernando Valley League champions and the third-seeded team in the division, outscored Burroughs, 15-3, the rest of the way.

Louisville Coach Brian O’Hara was anything but pleased afterward.

“It was a pathetic performance,” he said. “I knew because it was the first round of the playoffs that we would be nervous and miss some shots, but I didn’t think we would be that nervous.”

Louisville missed its first seven shots, including three layups, until Tina Kohler scored from the inside with 4:49 left.

But don’t think the jitters were limited to the Royals. Burroughs shot so poorly that Kohler’s basket gave the Royals the lead, 2-1.

The Burros missed their first nine shots and ended the first half making 4 of 19 shots. They finished shooting 31%.

Barbara Terhar came off the bench to score 15 points for the Royals, including nine in the first half. Lynn Flanagan had 15 for Louisville, while Marianella Cruz and Kohler each had 10.

Rhonda Piroli led Burroughs with 18 points, while Ann Zagala had nine, all from the free-throw line and all in the first half.

Louisville will play Los Alamitos in the second round Wednesday night. Los Alamitos defeated Corona del Mar, 48-41, Saturday night.