Morningside Girls Prevail, 73-56 : Defensive Switch, Leslie’s 36 Beat Fountain Valley

Midway through the first half of Saturday night’s girls’ CIF 5-AA semifinal game, Morningside High Coach Frank Scott had already figured out a way to beat Fountain Valley.

All that was necessary, Scott said, was a bit of fine tuning. He didn’t want to tinker too much with a team as successful as the Monarchs.

And his plan worked. Morningside went on a 20-2 rampage through the Edison High gymnasium en route to a convincing, but hard-fought, 73-56 victory.

“I was not really worried at all,” said Scott, who watched his team fall behind for most of the first quarter and trail, 15-12, at the buzzer. “We were playing a 3-2 zone, but they were getting and making a lot of shots from the outside. So we switched to a 1-2-2, and that was it.”

That, and a remarkable performance from Monarch junior center Lisa Leslie, who scored 36 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked seven shots and even scored on a slam dunk with 1:09 remaining in the third period. The 6-5 Leslie was dominant at both ends of the court.

“I had seen Lisa dunk before, so it didn’t surprise me at all,” said Fountain Valley Coach Carol Strausburg. “I think our girls were a little intimidated seeing her down under the basket all night.”

After trailing, 9-4, early in the game, the Monarchs claimed the lead with five minutes left in the quarter on guard JoJo Witherspoon’s jumper. But Fountain Valley scored six points in a row before Leslie scored to start Morningside’s run.

“The trademark of our team is intensity,” Scott said. “And we did pick it up a little bit in the second quarter. I felt comfortable with the way we were playing in the second quarter when I saw how our defense was affecting them.”

Morningside, which outscored the Barons, 23-6, in the second quarter, improved to 28-1, while Fountain Valley, the 5-AA fourth seed, fell to 19-9.

Witherspoon scored 13 for the top-seeded Monarchs, while Janet Davis contributed 10.

Staci Hisaika and Kami Bigler led the Barons with 15 points each.