HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL FINALS : Division III Girls : Lincoln Is Cold in Loss to Ramona

Maybe it was the mystique of playing in the Sports Arena that caused the Lincoln High School girls’ basketball team to miss all its shots in the first half of Friday’s San Diego Section Division III championship game against Ramona.

Maybe it was the cavernous depth behind the arena’s glass backboards that altered Lincoln’s aim so much that it missed all 25 of its first-half shots in the 41-23 loss.

Maybe it was just the pressure of playing in a championship game in such strange, new surroundings.

“I was nervous,” said Keiba Lewis, Lincoln’s best player. “Most of my teammates look up to me. I put too much pressure on myself.”

Lewis did not play in a December matchup between the teams, won by Ramona, 55-33. This time, Lewis’ 17-point average was supposed to help make up the difference.

But Lewis was 0 for 8 by halftime, when Ramona had virtually wrapped up the game, leading 26-5.

Ramona Coach Joe Bess knew that to stop Lincoln, he had to do two things: Stop Lewis and stop Lincoln’s interior passing.

“We practiced all week trying to stop Lewis,” Bess said. “We had to force her to go outside.”

Bess employed a 1-1-3 matchup zone defense with 6-footers Meleea Van Patton, Kendra Brunje and Kris Miller stopping the passes to the inside and Tina Brooklyn and Gina Tamburrino forcing the outside shot.

While Lincoln was shooting--and missing--from the outside, Ramona (18-7) was establishing an inside game. Ramona scored 16 of its first-half points from within five feet of the basket. Miller scored 12 of her 19 points and Van Patton scored all 8 of her points in the first half.

Lincoln (16-8) finally scored its first field goal with 7:07 left in the third quarter when Lewis hit a two-footer.

Lewis, who finished with 16 points, was 7 for 22 and Lincoln 8 for 47 (17%).

Tamburrino had 8 points and Van Patton and Brunje each had 12 rebounds for Ramona, which won its first section girls’ title and will lose only reserve Elezabeth Cobian to graduation.