Southern Section Basketball Playoffs : 4-AA Girls : Canyon Defense, Erkenbrack Stop Westlake, 47-38

Canyon High School has two of Orange County’s busiest and productive athletes this week in Keri Erkenbrack and Christa Ramirez. Both play on Southern Section playoff teams in two sports.

They were key figures in Canyon’s 47-38 4-AA girls’ basketball quarterfinal victory over Westlake Thursday night at Anaheim. Erkenbrack scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds and Ramirez, the county’s leader in assists, had nine assists.

Erkenbrack and Ramirez also play soccer for the Comanches, who play a 3-A quarterfinal match today at Moreno Valley. Erkenbrack is a goalie; Ramirez scored the goal in Canyon’s 1-0 victory over Canyon on Wednesday.

Against Westlake, the Comanches (21-4), survived a fourth-quarter comeback by the Warriors with a 9-2 spurt over the game’s final 3:24.

“Basically we just outpowered them inside down the stretch,” Canyon Coach Bill Fitzgibbons said. “That was the difference in the game.”

The Warriors (18-9), who never led, closed to within two points at 38-36 after a Melissa Gische basket with 3:48 remaining in the game.

“At the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter they came at us and took us by surprise,” Erkenbrack said of Westlake’s comeback bid.

But in the final minutes Canyon went inside to 6-foot-3 junior center Sheri Rhyne. Rhyne finished with eight points and eight rebounds, including four of the Comanches’ nine fourth-quarter points.

“Our main objective was to get the ball inside and take advantage of our height,” Erkenbrack said.

“I was wondering when they (my teammates) were going to start doing that (coming inside to me),” Rhyne said of her play late in the game. “I think I can actually play better underneath.”

In the second half, the Warriors shot just 18%, on seven of 39 field goal attempts. And they were only slightly better for the game, at 25%.

Fitzgibbons credited the Comanches’ defense for closing down the Warriors.

“We went to a 2-3 zone in the second half,” he said. “They didn’t handle the pressure very well.”

Canyon plays Camarillo on Saturday.

Camarillo 56, University 45--Guard Nicolle Victoria scored 25 points to pace Camarillo (21-6) overvisiting University (20-7). Center Shelley Davis led University with 15 points.

Mission Viejo 60, North Torrance 59--Forward Derrie Nauta hit a 17-foot jumper with 5 seconds left in the game to give visiting Mission Viejo (23-4) the victory. Nauta scored 19 points and teammate Kristen Okura added 15. Laura Collins paced North Torrance with 19 points.