ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Girls’ Roundup : Mater Dei Defeats Fountain Valley on Gainey’s Basket at the Buzzer

Geri Gainey made an 18-foot desperation shot at the buzzer Friday night to give the Mater Dei High School girls’ basketball team a 46-45 victory over Fountain Valley in the first round of the Marina-Edison Tournament at Edison.

Fountain Valley led, 45-44, with 18 seconds left when the Barons’ Stacey Hisaka took a shot and missed. Mater Dei got the rebound, Gainey got the outlet pass and seconds later, Mater Dei had the victory.

“I looked at the clock when I got the pass and it said five seconds,” Gainey said. “I crossed that line (a volleyball court marking near the hashmark) and I saw it said two seconds. But I knew if I pulled up from there I’d miss, so I took one more step and shot it. I looked at the clock and then back at the basket and it went in. I couldn’t believe it.”

“She was looking for her spot and she found it,” said Carolyn Campbell, Mater Dei coach.

It did not seem as if Mater Dei (9-2) would have a chance to win. Fountain Valley (7-5) had a three-point lead and the ball with less than a minute remaining. But Mater Dei’s Debbie Wagner tipped a Fountain Valley pass and Gainey came up with it, passing downcourt to Wagner for a layup.

Mater Dei called a timeout, and then Hisaka took a shot.

“They didn’t know what the offense was,” said Carol Strausburg, Fountain Valley coach.

“I couldn’t believe they took that shot,” said Gainey, who finished with 18.

“We were lucky,” Campbell said.

The lead was exchanged earlier in the game almost as unexpectedly as it was at the end. Mater Dei took an eight-point lead early in the first quarter, but Fountain Valley ran off an 18-4 stretch to lead, 22-14, midway through the second quarter. Then Mater Dei came back with 16 straight points, taking an eight-point lead early in the second half.

Fountain Valley regained the lead at 38-37, largely behind the outside shooting of Hisaka, who made four shots in about as many minutes.

“We were very sluggish,” Campbell said. “Luckily, they made some mistakes and we took advantage of them.

“We played Mater Dei a better game than I thought we would have,” Strausburg said. “But we made some crucial mistakes.”

Kelly O’Brien added 15 for Mater Dei, and Melissa Handley led Fountain Valley with 14.

In other Marina-Edison tournament games:

Edison 69, Loara 32--Kristi Smith scored 26 points as the Chargers (10-1) advanced to a second-round game at 8:30 tonight against Esperanza. Edison led Loara (1-5) by 17 at the half and outscored the Saxons, 22-6, in the third quarter.

Mission Viejo 66, Savanna 28--The Mission Viejo starters played less than a half in the easy victory. Eleven players scored for Mission Viejo, led by Colleen Amaya, a 6-foot 2-inch senior center, who had 14. Michelle Reid added 10 for Mission Viejo, which plays Los Alamitos in a second-round game at 4 p.m. today. Ann Sugano led Savanna with 12.

Los Alamitos 67, Huntington Beach 61--Kelly Moore, a 5-4 guard, scored a season-high 26 points and Diane Sands and Mary Reis each added 15 for the Griffins. Los Alamitos (6-2) outscored Huntington Beach (3-5) by 11 in the second quarter. Shawna Armstrong scored 19 and Tami Chick had 17 for the Oilers. Los Alamitos plays Mission Viejo in a second-round game at 4 p.m. today.

Foothill 43, Orange 21--Ashley Selman led Foothill with 10 points and Suzette Sargeant scored 11 for Orange (2-6). Foothill (7-2), which lost to Brea-Olinda in the Southern Section 3-A final last season, plays Marina in a second-round game at 5:30 p.m. today.

Marina 67, Corona del Mar 29--Kathy Stuppych scored 20 and Dawn Charroin added 14 as Marina (8-3) easily defeated winless Corona del Mar. Cosina Meyer led Corona del Mar with 12. Marina plays Foothill in a second-round game at 5:30 p.m. today.

Katella 55, Long Beach Wilson 37--Kelli Johnson scored 11 points to lead the Knights (9-1). Jackie Jones led Wilson with a game-high 13. Katella advances to a second-round game against Mater Dei at 7tonight.

Esperanza 43, El Toro 35--After allowing an eight-point halftime lead shrink to four, Esperanza (7-2) opened up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and went on to defeat El Toro (7-4). Laura Jones led the Aztecs with 14 and Karen Dalla Rosa added 11. Andrea Young scored a game-high 16 for El Toro. Esperanza plays Edison in a second-round game at 8:30 tonight.

In the Eisenhower Tournament:

Magnolia 72, Cajon 51--Katie Dorica scored 26 points, Dawne Borum 24 and Rena Rossoll 18 as the Sentinels (9-2) advanced to the fifth-place championship at 2:30 p.m. today against Eisenhower. Rossoll also had 15 rebounds.