Southern Section Girls’ Basketball : Leslie Leads Morningside’s 72-39 Victory

Sophomore center Lisa Leslie scored 26 points, had 7 rebounds and blocked 8 shots to lead Inglewood Morningside, the top-seeded team in the 4-A division, into the semifinals of the Southern Section girls basketball playoffs with a 72-39 win over Ventura Saturday night at Morningside.

The Lady Monarchs (28-1) also got 20 points and 12 rebounds from All-Southern Section forward Shaunda Greene, and 12 points and 10 assists from point guard Carla Gladden.

Morningside will face fourth-seeded Buena, a 44-30 winner over Thousand Oaks, in the semifinals.

Third-seeded Lynwood, the only team to beat Morningside this season, got 25 points from two-time All-Southern Section selection Trise Jackson and slipped past Marina, 49-46. Lynwood will face second-seeded Santa Barbara, a 82-62 winner at Newbury Park.

Unseeded Los Altos pulled off the upset of the night, beating top-seeded Brea-Olinda, 52-45, in a 3-A quarterfinal game at Brea-Olinda. Also in the 3-A, El Toro beat Valencia, 47-32. El Toro will play Palos Verdes, which beat Rowland, 59-47, in the semifinals.

In the 2-A division, Irvine Woodbridge beat Inglewood St. Mary’s, 64-61, and will meet fourth-seeded Ontario, a 44-42 winner at Lompoc, in the semifinals. The other 2-A semifinals matches Arroyo Grande, a 66-62 winner over Playa del Rey St. Bernard, against Chino, which won at Covina, 41-38.

In the 1-A division, Cerritos Valley Christian, Santa Ynez, and Banning advanced to the semifinals. Hesperia Christian, Trona, Lone Pine and Hemet Baptist Christian advanced in the Small Schools division.