THE PREPS : South Coast League Girls’ Basketball : Capistrano Valley Tops No. 4 El Toro, 58-54

Leads in the Capistrano Valley-El Toro high school girls’ basketball game Thursday seemed to last only as long as it took the other team to get the ball downcourt.

The lead changed hands 25 times, and the score was tied 6 times before Capistrano Valley pulled away to win, 58-54.

El Toro led at the end of the first quarter, 14-13, and at the end of the third, 44-43. The most either team led by was four points, which seemed nearly insurmountable in this game.

El Toro (18-4, 4-2 in the South Coast League and fourth-ranked in Orange County) led by that much, 42-38, with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

But the Chargers, in typical fashion, couldn’t hold the advantage very long. Capistrano Valley took the lead back, 47-46, early in the fourth quarter.

Capistrano Valley (15-5, 5-1 and ranked seventh) made it 56-52 with 39 seconds left.

El Toro cut the lead to two on a pair of free throws by center Sara Bone with 24 seconds left, but Angie Capone responded with two more with 18 seconds left to clinch the victory for Capistrano Valley.

Heather Schoeny, a senior forward, led the winners with 21 points and Holly Anderson, a junior center, added 14.

Schoeny scored many of her points on jump shots from 10 to 15 feet away. Anderson got hers primarily from close range but showed a good touch from 10 feet.

But Stan DeMaggio, the Cougar coach, couldn’t point to one overriding factor that helped his team win.

“(El Toro) shot well in the first half,” he said. “In the second half, we went to a 3-2 zone, and that shut it down.”

Greg Yeck, El Toro’s coach, said: “(We) played hard. I can’t fault our effort.”

Kelly Coleman, a senior forward, scored 18 points, most on outside jump shots, to lead El Toro. Kristen Bevis, a junior forward, added 16.

Once again, El Toro played without its top players, senior forwards Elaine Youngs and Andrea Young. Both are sidelined by leg injuries. Youngs was a member of The Times’ All-County team last season.

Yeck said he is hoping to have the pair back in time for the playoffs.

“We are not real physical without those two kids,” Yeck said. “When it comes down to a halfcourt game, we are a finesse team without them.”

Said DeMaggio: “Obviously, (El Toro) is not as good without Youngs. They’re a different team.”

Mission Viejo 68, San Clemente 48--Tricia Stringam scored 20 points to lead the host Diablos (17-5, 5-1). Tina Ranker added 13 points and Tricia Hill 12 for Mission Viejo, the county’s fifth-ranked team.