Prep Basketball : Sea View League Girls’ Roundup : University Outlasts Estancia

For three quarters it was close. Estancia and University high schools were never more than four points apart to that point.

But University’s Shelly Davis sparked the Trojans in the fourth quarter and helped them to a 54-43 Sea View League victory Thursday night at University.

Davis had 20 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, and 12 rebounds to lead University to its first league title since the school opened in 1970.

University and Tustin finished with 8-2 league marks and will share the league title. Tustin won a coin flip Thursday night and will be the league’s No. 1 representative to the Southern Section 4-A playoffs, which begin next week.

University is 19-6 overall. Estancia (16-8, 6-4) advances to the 3-A playoffs.

The league title marks a milestone of sorts for University. Just two seasons ago, the Trojans had a 9-14 overall record and finished third in the Sea View League. Last season, University improved to 12-10 and finished tied for second place.

Thursday’s game was tied, 31-31, with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. But University went on a 10-2 run to break it open.

Davis started the run with a short jumper. After Denise Gandara’s driving layup, Davis made a follow shot, two free throws and a layup to give the Trojans a 41-33 lead. Estancia never recovered and lost by its largest margin this season.

“We made our shots and finally got our offense going,” University Coach Doug Sorey said. “The fact that they didn’t get any inside shots helped us.”

Forward Patrice Lumpkin of Estancia had nine points in the first quarter as the Eagles led, 13-10, but she was limited to three the rest of the way.

Shannon Suzuki, Estancia’s center, scored six points. Melody Earle led Estancia with 21 points.

“I told the kids this was the first game all season that the other team completely outplayed us,” Estancia Coach Lisa McNamee said. “We have three kids (Lumpkin, Suzuki and Earle) who score in double figures. They’re tough, tough kids. But nobody wanted the ball late in the game.”

Estancia had its offense working just fine until the fourth quarter, but it just seemed to stall out after that.

“There were just 3 minutes (to start the fourth quarter) where University totally dominated the boards,” McNamee said.

Sorey agreed that rebounding won the game for the Trojans, but couldn’t pinpoint a reason why Estancia ran out of momentum.

“It was just one of those things when teams get cold,” he said.

Gandara added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Sandy Johnson had eight points and 10 rebounds for University.

Tustin 78, Corona del Mar 33--Teresa Perkins led Tustin with 18 points and DeeDee Anderson added 16. Tustin is 16-10, 8-2 and the league co-champions, along with University.