Girls’ Division I : Mt. Carmel’s Season Lasts One Game Too Long

If Lynda Jones, a forward at Mt. Carmel High School, had things her way, she would have preferred to have accepted her San Diego Section championship patch last Friday, strolled out of the Sports Arena and called it a season.

But there is one other reward allocated to section champions--a berth in the Southern California Regional playoffs. For San Diego County teams, this usually isn’t much of a reward.

For Mt. Carmel Tuesday night, it was a bittersweet ending to a spectacular season. The Sundevils lost to Los Angeles Lynwood, 72-42, in the first round of the Division I Regional at Mt. Carmel.

Third-seeded Mt. Carmel finished with a 24-5 record.

“Of course I wanted to finish the season off with a win, especially with that emotional intensity we had last Friday,” said Jones, who scored 19 points. “Last week was draining emotionally, but I would have loved to end on that (championship victory over Santana).”

Except for the Terri Mann-led teams from Point Loma the past four years, the regional playoffs usually represent a quick end to an exhilarating season for San Diego-area teams. The Los Angeles City and Southern sections traditionally dominate the post-section play.

Jones and her teammates, however, were upbeat after their loss Tuesday night. The team left the locker room and was greeted with a standing ovation.

“If the final memories these girls have of the season is of this one game, then they forgot an awful lot of good memories from last week,” said Peggy Brose, Mt. Carmel coach. Mt. Carmel not only won the section championship, but also knocked off powerhouse Point Loma in the semifinal last week.

“I’m happy for the opportunity for our kids to experience the regional playoffs,” Brose said. “They got to see a higher level of basketball than what’s played in San Diego.”

No. 6-seeded Lynwood, which lost to Morningside in the Southern Section final, opened a 15-2 lead midway through the first period. Mt. Carmel didn’t score from the field until 3:22 remained in the first period, when Tracy Peck hit a 16-foot jump shot from the right baseline.

Behind a 8-of-9 performance from the free throw line, Mt. Carmel tied it, 19-19, with 5:28 left in the first half.

“We shut down their shooting in the first half,” said Van Girard, Lynwood coach. “But at the line, they kept right in it.”

After the 19-19 tie, fast-breaking Lynwood scored the next 15 points, including 8 straight by All-American guard Trise Jackson, who finished with 31 points. Mt. Carmel never threatened again.

“We came out and we were real scared,” Brose said. “Our kids saw them in warmups and said, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ I thought once we tied it up though, we we would be right back in it. Instead, we got lazy and made bad passes.”

That was a problem that plagued Mt. Carmel throughout. Lynwood scored 12 of its first-period points off of six Sundevil turnovers.