SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL REGIONALS : Girls’ Regional Roundup : Point Loma Hitting Peak at Right Time, Rolls Past Santa Barbara

Monica Filer had 18 points and 10 assists, and Tyeast Brown had 18 points and 20 rebounds as Point Loma eased to a 51-29 victory over visiting Santa Barbara in a first-round Southern California Regional girls’ Division I basketball game.

Point Loma’s full-court, man-to-man press limited Santa Barbara to eight first-half points. The score at halftime was 26-8.

“We played one of our best games,” Point Loma Coach Lee Trepanier said. “To come off a (San Diego Section championship) game, you have to get them perked up, and I got them perked up.”

Trepanier said that Point Loma (31-1), ranked second in the state in Division I by Cal-Hi Sports, is peaking.

“No doubt about it,” Trepanier said. “We’re playing good basketball right now.”

Kristin Knapp led Santa Barbara (21-9) with 12 points.

In other Southern California Regional girls’ games:

Division II

Anaheim Katella 56, San Marcos 39--San Marcos’ Susie O’Brien, the county’s leading scorer at 29.9 points per game, scored 28 points, but the rest of the Knights managed just 11 as Katella High won easily, 56-39, in front of about 900 at Katella.

Katella’s full-court press and aggressive zone defense frustrated San Marcos, which shot five airballs, turned the ball over 16 times in the first half and shot just 27% from the field.

“Our strong point definitely is our defense,” Katella Coach Barb Bausch said. “If it’s not there, nothing else is going to be. We get pumped more when we can shut them down.”

Joni Easterly, who scored a school-record 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, broke her record of 34 points set Thursday in the Knights’ 4-A championship victory over Muir.

Katella, which led, 12-11, after the first quarter, broke the game open in the second quarter with six consecutive points to lead, 18-11.

San Marcos did not make a field goal in the third quarter and trailed, 37-25. O’Brien accounted for the team’s only points with eight free throws.

Katella increased its lead to as many as 20 points, 56-36, late in the fourth quarter.

O’Brien connected on 10 of 32 shots for her 28 points, but 10 of those came in the fourth quarter with Katella’s lead already in double digits.

“The defense was tough,” O’Brien said. “I couldn’t do any baseline drives like I like to do. I couldn’t put the ball on the floor. It changed my rhythm.”

Division III

Brea-Olinda 81, Our Lady of Peace 36--Deanna Beauparlant led OLP (19-7) with nine points and Kathy Bashi and Kristy Linaugh each scored seven points. Aimee McDaniel scored 22 points, making nine of 14 field goal attempts, for Brea-Olinda. McDaniel, a junior point guard, scored 17 of her points in the first half as the Wildcats (28-2) used their quickness and height advantage to take a 42-15 halftime lead.

Besides leading the Wildcats in scoring, McDaniel also held the Pilots’ leading scorer, 5-1 point guard Tammy Tavares, to one field goal in three quarters. Tavares, who entered the game averaging 17.7 points, scored five points against the Brea-Olinda reserves in the fourth quarter to finish with seven points.

“Their point guard (McDaniel) was unbelievable, but all the way around, they beat us,” said Our Lady of Peace Coach Carol Burnett. “They did everything well, but still, I’m proud of my team for getting as far as they did this season.”

Reedley 54, Ramona 26--Tracy Ainger scored 18 points, and Stephanie Rhodes added 13 for No. 4-seeded Reedley (13-13). Ramona (19-5), which trailed at halftime, 21-18, was limited to eight second-half points. Kris Miller led visiting Ramona with 12 points.

Palm Desert 65, University of San Diego High School 50--The Dons trailed by five at the half but were outscored, 19-6, by Palm Desert in the third quarter at USDHS. Amy Seidlinger scored 18 and Anne Casey 16 for USDHS. Kelly McClanahan led Palm Desert with 21. Tara Davidson added 14.

Division V

Baptist Christian 39, Calvin Christian 38--Calvin Christian (23-3) trailed Baptist Christian (24-3), 24-22, at halftime. Carol Vander Woude led the Crusaders with 12 points and Betsy Wilgenburg added 10. Baptist Christian’s Tara Douma led in rebounding with 10.

Pilgrim 56, La Jolla Country Day 54--Ngozi Ogbunamiri scored a game-high 23 points, Brandi Ruff added 17 and Paula Dayes had 21 rebounds to lead Pilgrim (21-3). La Jolla Country Day (17-6) led by 13 at the half. But Pilgrim, utilizing a full-court press, went on a 20-6 run in the third quarter to take a 39-38 lead. Robin Chapman led LJCD with 21 points, nine steals and seven assists. Isabel Schoepflin added 13 points and 11 rebounds.