Edison Girls’ Basketball Tournament : Katella Gives Mission Viejo First Loss of Season, 52-43 : Easterly Scores 18 Points to Lead Balanced Attack

Katella High School handed Mission Viejo its first loss of the season Wednesday with a 52-43 victory in a Marina-Edison girls’ basketball tournament quarterfinal game at Edison.

Joni Easterly led Katella, last season’s Empire League champion, with 18 points, but it was the play of forward Karen Jensen and guards Ruth Harker and Angie Gomez that provided the difference.

With Mission Viejo using a box-and-one defense on Easterly, Gomez helped spark the Knights in the first half with all 10 of her points.

Jensen scored 13 points and collected 7 rebounds for Katella, and Harker added 11 points.

Katella (11-1) will advance to the semifinals against Fountain Valley tonight at 7. Mission Viejo (11-1) will face Foothill in a consolation game at 4.

Mission Viejo, seeded second in the tournament behind Fountain Valley, looked shaky in the second half, committing several turnovers that led to Katella baskets. The Diablos cut the lead to 48-43 with 1:36 remaining, but could not score as Katella held on for the victory.

“It’s our best win of the season, “ Katella Coach Barb Bausch said. “We were able to run our offense and just play as hard as we could.”

Jennifer Rohrig had a game-high 21 points for Mission Viejo and added 8 rebounds.

In other championship quarterfinals:

Fountain Valley 53, Foothill 48--Stacey Hisaka scored 24 points for Fountain Valley. The score was tied, 48-48, with 3 minutes left, but Yvette Ybarra made a free throw with 2:09 remaining to give Fountain Valley a 49-48 lead. Ybarra, who had 7 points, also made a short jump shot with 20 seconds left to seal the victory. Tanya Fox scored 25 for Foothill.

Ocean View 59, El Toro 56--The score was tied, 53-53, with 3:36 left, but Jenny Sullivan scored a basket and Ocean View led the rest of the way. Fabilo Nunez had 22 points, Sullivan 15 and Cossette Smith 12 for Ocean View, which plays Mater Dei tonight at 8:30 in one championship tournament semifinal.

Mater Dei 48, Long Beach Wilson 41--Mater Dei led, 15-14, early in the second quarter then went on a 16-0 run and led, 31-14. Long Beach Wilson was not able to gt closer than 6 points the rest of the way. Kelly O’Brien scored 17 for Mater Dei, and teammate Mary McCarthy had 13.

In consolation-round games:

Marina 58, El Modena 26--Melisa Sortino led the Vikings with 22 points and Lisa Orosco added 10 for Marina (10-3). Collette Williams led El Modena (0-7) with 11 points.

Esperanza 40, Lakewood 39--Junior guard Jennifer Harney connected on a jump shot with 24 seconds remaining for the Aztecs (4-6). Shannon Jones led Esperanza with 19 points, including 12 in the second half. Harney added 6 points. Lakewood (5-7) led, 25-15, at halftime.

Loara 53, Huntington Beach 27--Loara (9-4) jumped to a 28-14 halftime lead. Heidi Sorour led Loara with 12 points and teammates Melaine Sparks and Tracy Titus added 9 each.

Valencia 61, Edison 54--Valencia was led by senior center Kristen McDonald, who had a season-high 31 points. Teammate Krista Gilpin added 10 points. The Tigers (6-5) led, 28-13, at halftime. Krisden Tanabe had 27 points to lead Edison (2-7) and Debbie Fischer added 13 points.