4-AA Girls : Amoroso Delivers, Carries Valencia in Semifinal, 51-48

Valencia High School, the team that wouldn’t go away, got a little luck late in the game to go with its game-long perseverance.

And it was enough to help Valencia beat Mission Viejo, 51-48, in a Southern Section 4-AA girls’ semifinal game Saturday at El Toro High.

Nancy Amoroso made three of four free throws with 1 second left to give Valencia the victory and put the Tigers in the championship game against Canyon Thursday at Chapman College.

Valencia, which was unseeded in the division, is 19-9. Mission Viejo, which finished its season 23-5, was the top-seeded team.

The Tigers, who shot poorly and had trouble guarding Jennifer Rohrig, Mission Viejo’s 6-foot-2 center, trailed by as many as five points late in the game. But Valencia never gave up and hustled its way back into the game.

Valencia made one last, late run at Mission Viejo and tied the score, 48-48, on two free throws by guard Hsin-Yi Lo with 14 seconds left.

Mission Viejo then called timeout, its last, in order to set up a play.

Tina Ranker, Mission Viejo guard, drove toward the basket, but found her path blocked by Valencia players. She tried to throw a pass toward the corner of the key, but Amoroso intercepted it with 1 second left.

And as she did, she was fouled by Mission Viejo’s Derrie Nauta, who was running full tilt toward the ball.

Mission Viejo called timeout, trying to freeze Amoroso, but because it had used all its timeouts was given a two-shot technical foul. So Amoroso had, in effect, at least three chances to win it for Valencia.

“I’ve never been in that position before,” Amoroso said. “I was shaking.”

She made the front end of the one-and-one, hit the second and then sank one of two technical foul shots to give Valencia its winning margin.

“No matter who would have won the game, it would have come down to something lucky at the end,” Valencia Coach Debi Woelke said.

It was hardly the best of games for either team, but particularly for Valencia.

Center Kristen McDonald, who averages 19 points a game, didn’t score until there were 5 seconds left in the first half and finished with just 13 points.

Furthermore, the Tigers scored only six points in the third quarter and had only one field goal in scoring 10 points in the second.

Candy Andersen added 12 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, for Valencia. Lo and Amoroso had 10 and nine points, respectively.