Santana Will Meet Mt. Carmel : Team Endures Tough First Quarter to Beat Vista, 50-40

The first quarter of the Division I semifinal girls’ basketball game between Santana and Vista high schools will be remembered as a conquest and a failure by the two teams.

For Santana, the quarter will be remembered as an obstacle it overcame in order to defeat Vista, 50-40, at Mira Mesa High School and earn a trip to the Sports Arena for Friday’s Division I final against Mt. Carmel.

For Vista, it will be remembered as a stumbling block it could not overcome, not even with a 32-rebound, 10-block and 16-point game from 6-foot 4-inch center Chris Enger.

“I thought we could pressure their guards,” said Wade Vickery, Santana coach. “Our guards are very, very good defensively. Our full-court pressure hurt them.”

Vista committed 14 turnovers in the first quarter, 23 by halftime, and finished with 35.

Santana had a less than stellar first quarter, committing seven turnovers and missing numerous shots from under the basket, but still managed an 8-4 lead.

Santana (25-1) then got set in its game plan early in the second quarter, while the Panthers (23-6) were still struggling to find theirs.

“Their defense was good,” said Joe DeMaria, Vista coach. “We just couldn’t break their pressure and get into our offense.”

Despite Enger’s stats, Santana did not let the junior dominate the game in the most important category--scoring. The county’s leading scorer with a 27.9 average, she was held to 16 primarily because of an excellent transition game by Santana.

The Sultans played man-to-man full court pressure, then switched to a 2-3 zone in order to collapse on Enger.

Santana led, 25-17, at halftime, and the closest Vista would come was 38-32 with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Santana then scored two consecutive baskets to make it 42-32 and was never threatened again.

Guard Rebecca Aase scored 13 points and forward Barbara Bennett added 10 for Santana. Guard Renee Richardson had 16 points for Vista.