Southern Section 3-A Girls : Finally, Brea-Olinda Has What It Takes, 54-50

After three straight failures, the Brea-Olinda High School girls’ basketball team won a Southern Section championship, defeating East Tustin Foothill, 54-50, Friday night for the 3-A title in Kellogg Gymnasium at Cal Poly Pomona.

Brea, which lost to Foothill, 63-34, in last season’s 3-A final, took the lead with 2:10 left in the first quarter and never relinquished it, although Foothill came within two points on several occasions.

Carrie Egan led the victorious Wildcats with 15 points. Charlene Schuessler and Kristen McPhee added 13 and 12, respectively.

Chris McFerson, the Knights’ 6-3 center, led all scorers with 19 points and had 20 rebounds.

Foothill, which had 22 turnovers, gave the ball away on its first five possessions of the fourth quarter.

During that stretch, Brea outscored the Knights, 8-2, to take an eight-point lead with 4:39 left.

The Knights came within three points, 49-46, with 1:51 remaining, but McPhee and center Susan Tousey combined for four points in the next 40 seconds to put Brea ahead by seven.