ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL ALL-STAR BASKETBALL GAMES : Sargeant Leads North Girls to 74-49 Win

There were several explanations Saturday night for the North team running away from the South in the second half on its way to a 74-49 victory in the girls’ Orange County All-Star basketball game at UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

The North team was bigger, stronger, had superior depth and held longer practice sessions than the South.

The North also had a couple of players with a lot to prove.

Suzette Sargeant from Orange High School and Cindy Vyskocil from Whittier Christian had talked to each other since April about this game. It would be their one chance to prove they were the best players in the county.

The motivation seemed to work, as Sargeant scored a game-high 21 points and was named the game’s most valuable player. Vyskocil led the North in the first half with 10 points and ended with 16.

Sargeant, who will attend Cal State Long Beach in the fall, averaged 22.7 points and 12.5 rebounds for Orange this season. Vyskocil averaged 34.6 points and 14 rebounds at Whittier Christian and is going to Arizona State.

Both played key roles, along with Katie Donica of Magnolia, in putting the South away in the second half. The North led by only two at halftime, 36-34, but scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 45-34 lead. Sargeant scored seven and Vyskocil scored the other two.

The South closed to 51-44, but Donica scored the next eight points to give the North a commanding 59-44 lead.

Sargeant made the final score even more one-sided by scoring the last 10 points of the game.

“They made their run against our best group, and we just couldn’t continue the pace,” said South Coach Eric Bangs of Woodbridge. “We just didn’t match up with them from top to bottom.”

The South scored only 15 points in the second half, shooting 21% from the field and committing 14 turnovers.

Kristi Smith of Edison led the South with 16 points. Christie Wile of Mission Viejo added 10.