High Schools : Purvis Comes Back, Bonita Vista Wins

Torril Purvis shouted “I’m back!” after league-leading Bonita Vista defeated visiting Chula Vista, 53-38, in a key Metro Conference girls’ basketball game Thursday night.

Purvis, averaging 16.6 points a game and the league’s fourth-leading scorer, had an anemic five-point effort against Sweetwater Tuesday but finished 24 against the Spartans.

“Torril’s such a selfless player,” Bonita Vista Coach Ralph Carrier said, “she finds a way to get the job done.”

On this night, it was by scoring. Purvis and Colleen Gannon (15) combined for 39 of the Barons’ points.

While Purvis gave a tremendous comeback performance, Chula Vista’s Marcey Wolf was fighting to keep center stage. On Tuesday against Marian, Wolf’s 13 free throws sent her into the section record book, breaking the existing season record by three.

Against the Barons, Wolf was held to 18 points (six of nine from the foul line, giving her 164 free throws made for the season). Lillian Casas was Chula Vista’s second leading scorer with 11 points.

“We shot enough,” Chula Vista Coach Kim Mathis said. “We just couldn’t score.

Said Carrier: “We knew we’d have to press the ball inside. Gannon, Purvis and (Rosa) Roberts helped out on the inside to take their shooting away.”

Chula Vista has been without its leading scorer, Sasha Munoz, for nine games but expects to get Munoz back sometime next week.

Bonita Vista took a 28-20 lead going into halftime, then extended it to 38-27 after three quarters. Down by 15 with under 3 minutes to play, Chula Vista made a little run at the end to pull to 47-36, but the Spartans fouled Bonita Vista three consecutive times, and the Barons went six for six at the line in the final 1:27.

Last time these teams met, Bonita Vista pulled out a 32-29 victory. The difference this time, Carrier said, was sticking to their own game plan.

“This time,” Carrier said, “when Chula Vista wanted to run, we resisted the urge to run with them. We slowed them down and went into a power defense.”

Bonita Vista improved to 18-5, 11-1; Chula Vista dropped to 12-10, 9-3.