Girls’ Roundup : A Long Journey Stops Santana

Apparently, the six-hour drive to the Fresno area left Santana High School team sluggish.

By the time Santana got its game legs, host Hanford had a six-point lead and never slowed en route to a 64-54 victory in the Division I opening-round game of the Southern California Regional Tournament.

Overall, it wasn’t a good night for San Diego Section girls’ basketball teams in first round games Tuesday night.

Hanford (25-1) led, 17-11, after one quarter, 30-22 after two and 46-40 after three. Hanford’s Lataria Andrews did the most damage, scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

For No. 5-seeded Santana, guard Barbara Bennett scored 24 and center Leslie Ellis 22. Santana, the runner-up in the San Diego Section, finished 25-3.

Elsewhere in the playoffs, Los Altos defeated San Diego Section runner-up Fallbrook, 47-36, in Division II play at Los Altos High in Hacienda Heights. Los Altos is 21-4 and Fallbrook ends its season, 17-10.

In Division IV play, Cerritos Valley Christian defeated Coronado 68-35 at Cerritos High. Valley Christian is 26-2 and Coronado finishes its season 11-13. Valley Christian will play Chowchilla (25-2), which advanced without having to play a game when Christian declined to play.

Also in Division IV, Oxnard of Santa Clara defeated Holtville, 54-29. Holtville got 16 points from Tnaisha Anderson and 12 from Tami Adkins to beat Holtville. Dina Patzloff scored 13 for Holtville. In Division V, Avenal defeated Lutheran, 41-36, as Bridget Franklin had 15 points and Becky Franklin added 10. Second-seeded Avenal (25-3) outscored Lutheran by seven points in the middle two quarters to earn the win. Hanne Norby led Lutheran with 17 points and Ganell Neal had 12.

Also in Division V, Lone Pine defeated Calvin Christian, 61-37.