GIRLS SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Morningside Sidesteps Royal, 75-56, After 3 Quarters of Worry

For three periods of the opening-round game, a scrappy Royal High team stayed close to highly touted Morningside. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, there’s this silly state rule that calls for a fourth period to be played in all high school basketball games.

And when the dust had cleared from that horrendous Royal final quarter, Morningside had posted a 75-56 rout and advanced to the second round of the 4-A playoffs.

Carla Gladden, Tia Thomas and Shaunda Greene scored 24, 22 and 22 points, respectively, for Morningside (20-5).

The Highlanders (14-8) had three players in double figures. Debra Rabin paced them with 16 points while Cheli Brown had 15 and Laurie Bantel added 10.

Royal trailed, 52-46, after three quarters but hit just one of its first seven shots and fell behind by 14 points with five minutes left in the game.

4-A Division

Thousand Oaks 61, Hoover 52--The Lancers grabbed the lead early in the third period behind a pressing defense and a strong inside game, led by Lisa Magallanes and Michelle Hamilton. The two led a 17-7 spurt in that quarter with 11 points and seven rebounds between them.

Thousand Oaks (16-9) pulled away in the final period by hitting 12 of 15 free throws.

Sophomore Jennie Pritchard and Silvia Antanaitis scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, and led the Toranadoes to a 30-26 halftime lead over Hoover (16-7). Antanaitis had a team-high 10 rebounds.

3-A Division

Woodbridge 60, Alemany 55--Alemany lost a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and was eliminated by Woodbridge of Orange County in the first round.

The host Warriors (20-6), led by 5-11 junior Gilly Powell with 25 points and sophomore Kathy Millat with 16, outscored Alemany, 15-6, in the final period.

Alemany (17-7), paced by Jennifer Kroll with 21 points and Jenny Beubis with 17, didn’t score in the final five minutes of the game.

Palmdale 56, Chaminade 39--All-American Linda Staley scored 22 of her game-high 29 points in the second half to lead Palmdale to the win.

Palmdale (21-3), the Golden League champion, was sluggish in the beginning and trailed Chaminade 22-19 at halftime.

The Eagles (13-9), were hurt when 6-1 center Diava Tomkus sat out 10 minutes of the second half because of foul trouble. The San Fernando Valley League’s third-place team was led by Melissa Ingalls, who hit nine of 17 shots from the field and finished with 18 points.

Burroughs (B) 64, Antelope Valley 53--Burroughs applied the pressure and Antelope Valley did the yielded as Burroughs ran off to a win in the first round game.

Taking advantage of Antelope Valley playoff jitters and turnovers Burroughs extended a 29-22 halftime lead to 48-43 entering the final quarter.

Burroughs, 18-6 on the season, was led by Kim Powers with 19 points and Kristi Davis followed with 16. Linda Owens of Antelope Valley had a game-high 20 points.

1-A Division

Santa Clara 74, L.A. Lutheran 37--Kim Weich hit all eight of her field goal attempts for Santa Clara en route to a 21-point performance and center Kathy Torrez added 19 points in the first-round game.

The Saints’ aggressive defense forced L.A. Lutheran (13-9) to commit six first-quarter turnovers and 19 in the game.

The Frontier League champions (20-5) consistently worked the ball inside to Weich and Torres. They grabbed a 16-point lead early in the first period and extended it to 25 points midway through the third period.

L.A. Lutheran, the third-place team in the Alpha League, was led by Maricela Lopez with 10 points.

Morro Bay 64, La Reina 58--Vicki Skiba’s game-high 20 points led Morro Bay High over La Reina in the first round. Teresa Rensch was La Reina’s high-scorer with 19 points.

Ginny Falsetti had 19 points and Jeannie Fronek added 16 for Morro Bay.

La Reina, which finished second in the Tri-Valley League, ended the season at 9-12.

Bishop 66, L.A. Baptist 43--With three starters barred from playing for disciplinary reasons, the L.A. Baptist Knights were never in their girls Southern Section 1-A first-round playoff game. The Knights, who finished the year 15-6, couldn’t solve Bishops full-court press and turned the ball over 40 times.

L.A. Baptist did get a strong game from forward Michelle Christiansen, who scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds. Sheri Harris also scored 14 for the Knights, while Bishops’ Joy Tiner led all scorers with 19.

Small Schools

Oakwood 32, Cal Lutheran 26--Oakwood came from behind in the second half to defeat the Seahawks in the opening-round game.

After playing poorly in the first half and trailing 14-10 at intermission, Oakwood (14-1) used an aggressive full-court press in the second-half and forced several turnovers by Cal Lutheran(10-7).

Oakwood center Jamie Green had a spectacular night, finishing with 11 points, 15 rebounds, 12 steals, 10 blocked shots and four assists. Teammate Jennifer Grodin contributed a game-high eight assists.

Ruth Moldstad led Cal Lutheran with 10 points, including eight in the first quarter.