BELL-JEFF TOURNAMENT : Santa Barbara Thwarts Upset Bid by Tenacious Alemany, 49-45

Few people believed Alemany had much of a chance Saturday against highly touted Santa Barbara in the second round of the Bell-Jeff girls basketball tournament.

Even Alemany Coach Melissa Melton had her doubts.

“You never want to go into a game thinking you don’t have a chance, but I had my doubts,” Melton said. “Santa Barbara is bigger, stronger and more experienced at every position.”

But the smaller, weaker and less-experienced Alemany came within one shot of pulling off the biggest upset in the three years of the tournament before losing, 49-45, in overtime.

“I’m so proud of them I could scream,” Melton said. “They gave everything they had but a couple of free throws and proved to me they’re capable of beating anyone.”

Free throws proved to be the downfall for Alemany, which made only one of six in the fourth quarter.

Still, the Indians regained possession and a chance to win with 20 seconds left and called time out at midcourt with 15 seconds to go in regulation. The problem was that 15 seconds were left on the game clock and 10 on the 30-second shot clock, which had malfunctioned.

Alemany worked the ball inside to Carol Schoenmann, who rushed and missed a 10-footer with two seconds left on the shot clock. Melton discovered the discrepancy too late became visibly upset to find that the shot clock was wrong the final 40 seconds.

Santa Barbara failed to score with two seconds left, and the game headed for overtime tied, 38-38.

The Lady Dons outscored Alemany, 7-2, in the first minute of the three-minute overtime and held a 45-40 lead.

Alemany’s Millie Junio made the only three-pointer of the game, but it was not enough as Shannon Frowiss made two jumpers to end the upset bid.

Frowiss scored a game-high 22 points and Kate Cannell added 12 for Santa Barbara, the second-seeded team in the tournament and rated one of the top 10 teams in state.

Nikki Davis led Alemany with 16 points and Schoenmann had 8.

“We knew Alemany was going to be tough,” Santa Barbara Coach Scott Blakey said. “What really hurt us was their offensive execution and the way they prevented us from running our fast break.”

Santa Barbara started three players taller than six feet and had at least a three-inch advantage over Alemany’s starters.

Alemany tried to counter by pressuring Santa Barbara’s guards and succeeded by forcing nine first-half turnovers.

Davis made two consecutive jumpers to give Alemany its biggest lead, 36-33, in the fourth quarter, but the Indians scored only two more points in the quarter before going into overtime.

Alemany will play Pasadena on Monday for seventh place in the consolation bracket.

In other championship games:

Muir 41, Thousand Oaks 37--Thousand Oaks made six turnovers in the fourth quarter and was outscored 6-0 during the final two minutes of the game.

Thousand Oaks center Barbara Tanner scored 16 points.

In consolation bracket games:

Louisville 50, Burbank 10--Burbank suited only five players and couldn’t keep up with a faster Louisville team. Becky Long led Louisville with 17 points. Christine Rumfola had 8 for Burbank.

Burbank Burroughs 28, Fontana 27--Wendy Bruse scored three points in the fourth quarter, including the deciding free throw, and Margie Thomas’ five points led Burroughs.

Bell-Jeff 37, Notre Dame 22--Tournament host Bell-Jeff used a full-court press and limited Notre Dame to barely one shot per possession.