Southern Section 2-A Girls : Chino Has a Big Second Half and Wins, 59-40

Jeanine Jones, Chino High School’s 5-7 guard, appeared to be in a trance during the first half of the Southern Section CIF 2-A girls’ championship game against Lompoc Friday night at Gahr High.

But Jones woke up in the second half, scoring 9 of her team-high 14 points to lead the Cowgirls (29-1) to a 59-40 win.

“The coach told me at halftime to wake up and get with it or I’d be sitting on the bench, “ said Jones, who was named the game’s most valuable player.

Lompoc, which trailed, 26-25, at halftime, tied the game at 27-27 with 3:38 to play in the third quarter when Pam Coffey followed a missed shot.

Jones and the rest of her Chino teammates then blew the game open with a 10-0 run to close out the quarter.

The Braves (23-4), which relied almost exclusively on five players, did not score their second field goal of the half until Marie Fontaine’s layup with 2:10 left to play.