4-A GIRLS : La Habra, La Quinta Have Key Ingredients to Win It All

On paper, Orange County teams have a 50-50 chance of making it to the Southern Section 4-A final. Two of the four seeded teams in the division are from the county: top-seeded La Habra and third-seeded La Quinta.

In a division that needed 12 at-large teams to fill the bracket, La Habra’s unusually tall Highlanders could easily advance to the final.

“In that top half of the bracket, La Habra looks like they are going to cruise through there,” La Quinta Coach Kevin Kiernan said. “I don’t see any team with any height there that can match up with them at all. So I think they’ve got a pretty good path to the finals.”

La Habra has three players who are at least 6 feet tall. Leslie Ferguson, a 6-foot post player, leads the Highlanders with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She teams with the Kristich sisters, 6-1 Ana (11.8 points, nine rebounds) and 6-5 Zrinka (13.1 points, 9.2 rebounds).

La Habra brings a 97-3 league record, compiled over 10 years, into the playoffs and has won nine of the past 10 Freeway League championships. While the Highlanders tower over most of their opponents they are not invincible. They have only two seniors, only one of whom plays regularly, and they are untested against tough competition. The Highlanders lost to Valencia in a nonleague game.

La Quinta doesn’t have height but the Aztecs have seniority and scoring punch. They start five seniors, including last year’s state scoring leader, Amy Jalewalia, who has raised her average to 33.4 points a game from 32 last year.

The Aztecs last made it to the final in 1985 in the 3-A division, but illness and scholastic troubles have hindered them since. Kiernan is hoping nothing like that will happen this year.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” he said. “We always seem to lose a body as soon as we start talking about CIF (playoffs). Last year Tanya Krill got the chicken pox and the year before it was ineligibility. We don’t get our grades until Tuesday or Wednesday and we always have a couple of kids who are borderline.

“If we’re healthy and everybody is eligible, we have a good shot at going a few rounds. It is a very competitive bracket. There doesn’t seem to be any dominant teams in there besides La Habra. Everybody’s got a good shot.”

Fullerton (16-6) and Cypress (15-9) have strong records and the benefit of playing against good league competition. Fullerton lost to La Habra twice in close games while Cypress defeated Empire League champion Esperanza once.

Fullerton plays host to Redondo (7-14), an at-large team. Cypress faces at-large entry La Mirada (10-11) at Cypress.

Seven of the nine Orange County entrants will play their first game at home and the other two, El Modena and Garden Grove, play against county schools.

Buena Park (9-9) plays host to Pioneer (10-12), El Modena (7-13) travels to Kennedy (14-10) and at-large entries Garden Grove (11-11) and defending division champion Katella (9-15) play at Katella.

DEFENDING CHAMPION--Katella

TOP TEAMS--La Habra (19-3), Palm Desert (23-2), La Quinta (23-3).

DARK HORSE--Cypress (15-9).

BEST DRAW--St. Joseph (16-9), the only unseeded team with a first-round bye.

WORST DRAW--Garden Grove (11-11), with the best record of any at-large team in the division, meets defending champion Katella and then most likely top-seeded La Habra.

KEY PLAYERS--Leslie Ferguson and Ana and Zrinka Kristich (La Habra), Amy Jalewalia and Heather Brannon (La Quinta), Sommer McLain (Fullerton), Rosa Olloque (West Torrance), Tisa Read and Brenda Joyce (Palm Desert) and Valerie Ruiz (Kennedy).

NOTEWORTHY--There are 12 at-large teams in the division, all but one has a losing records.