Lynwood Girls Hand Muir First Loss in 2 Overtimes for Southern Section 4-A Title

Not until Pasadena Muir High School’s Tasha Bradley missed a short turnaround bank shot with two seconds left in the second overtime did grit and hustle win out over strength and size.

So, Lynwood High--tiny Lynwood--dwarfed by Muir at every position, scrapped its way to a 54-52 victory Friday night at Cal Poly Pomona and won the Southern Section 4-A girls’ basketball championship.

As improbable as Lynwood’s victory over the nationally No. 1-ranked Mustangs, who came into the game with a perfect 29-0 record, was the basket that proved to be the Knights’ winning points.

With the Knights holding a 52-51 lead and 1:15 remaining in the second overtime, Shurell Johnson drove under the basket among Muir’s biggest players, including 6-2 forward Geannine Jordan.

Johnson flung up a shot from her hip. It went high on the backboard, nearly over it, kissed off the glass and dropped right through the net, giving the Knights a 54-51 lead.

Jordan fouled Johnson, who at 5-9 is the Knights’ tallest regular. The foul, Jordan’s fifth, sent her to the bench and also sent the Lynwood fans among the crowd of 3,637 into a frenzy that was only topped at the final buzzer.

It was Lynwood’s defense that won the game.

Time after time, the trio of Trise Jackson, Faye Sherrard and Anita Martinez swarmmed the taller Mustangs.

The Muir lob passes into Geannine Jordan and her twin Pauline invariable got swatted away.

“Our ‘man’ defense was exceptional,” Lynwood Coach Van Girard said. “They got the ball inside, but not consistantly. We knew we had to keep them from scoring a lot in the key.”

They succeeded. Geannine Jordan scored 25 points (14 in the first half), but they weren’t enough.