5-A GIRLS : Latest Unlucky Draw Could Spell Double Trouble for Marina

All the coaches at the Southern Section office smiled at Marina High School Coach Pete Bonny when he walked in to pick up his playoff pairings Monday.

“I said, ‘What are you smiling at?’ ” Bonny said. “They said, ‘Go look at your draw.’ ”

Bonny wasn’t surprised. It was the typical bad luck of the draw the Marina girls’ basketball team has experienced over the years.

The Vikings are matched against Canyon Springs (16-9), the second-place team from the Mountain View League. If the Vikings win, they most likely will meet second-seeded Ontario (26-0) at Ontario.

“Marina has never gotten good draws in basketball,” first-year coach Bonny said. “You can’t cry about it. It is just the way we are perceived. We were never ranked in the 5-A top 10 all season.” That, despite the fact that Marina placed second in the tough Sunset League.

The Vikings will need all that experience to offset their lack of height. Marina’s tallest starter is 5-foot-10 junior Paula Meyers. Much of Marina’s success will depend on the long shot. Guard Melisa Sortino has made 62 three-point shots, and averages 20.6 points and 5.2 assists a game. The team averages 62 points, the most in Marina history.

The Vikings will also have to do quite a bit of running to keep pace with some quality teams. Three of the 5-A’s seeded teams--Buena, Ontario and Hart--were in last year’s semifinals.

Top-seeded Buena (23-0) of Ventura is no stranger to success; it has won the Channel League title 13 of the past 14 years. Center Nicole Ellis (5-11) leads the Bulldogs with a 13-point average. Junior point guard Mia Palkie (5-8) averages 10.4 points.

Ocean View (24-2) is the county team with the best chance of reaching the final. The fourth-seeded Seahawks, who start five seniors, are quick, big and fluid.

Three starters average in double figures, led by 6-2, 185-pound Jennifer Sullivan (17.4 points, 14.6 rebounds), last year’s Sunset League most valuable player. Tracy Wolfe, a 5-11 senior, averages 13 points and almost 10 rebounds a game and guard Fabiola Nunez averages 10 points and about eight rebounds. Point guard Alli Takido averages seven assists and 6.5 points and is part of a solid core of three-point shooters.

Seven other county teams made the playoffs. One of them, El Toro (22-5), will have to get past Ocean View to reach the semifinals.

The two teams, which have alternated at the No. 2 spot in the county girls’ basketball poll, conceivably could meet in the quarterfinals.

El Toro Coach Greg Yeck likes his team’s draw and the possibility of meeting Ocean View. “It should be good going up against somebody really tough, and it’s not like we’re going up against the unknown,” he said.

The Chargers are led by point guard Karie Yoshioka (16 points, eight assists) and 6-0 center Sara Bone (18 points, 10 rebounds).

Orange (16-6) and standout center Nicole Champion play host to Diamond Bar (12-11). Esperanza (20-4), led by guard Jennifer Harney, plays host to Corona del Mar (8-13). Capistrano Valley (16-9) plays host to Inglewood (12-6).

Huntington Beach (9-15) and Dana Hills (13-11) earned at-large berths and will be on the road for the first round. Aside from those schools, Mater Dei (10-12) is the only Orange County team in the division that has to travel. The Monarchs open at Cerritos (17-6).

The top-seeded team in 5-AA is Morningside (23-3), led by 6-5 Lisa Leslie, who won the Dial Award as the top high school female athlete in the nation, and 6-4 Janet Davis.

The Monarchs, the division’s defending champion, won their eighth Ocean League title as Leslie averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds a game.

Fountain Valley (18-7) and Santa Ana Valley (14-8) are the only county teams in the division and neither is ranked.

DEFENDING CHAMPION--Hart

TOP TEAMS--Buena (23-0), Ontario (26-0), Hart (21-4), Ocean View (24-2).

DARK HORSES--El Toro (22-5) and Santa Barbara (22-5).

BEST DRAW--El Toro (22-5) opens at home against at-large Moreno Valley (8-12) and could face Mater Dei (10-12) or Cerritos (17-6) before taking on Ocean View in the quarterfinals.

WORST DRAW--Marina (18-7) takes on Canyon Springs, which until the last of week of the season had led its league. Then the short Vikings could face undefeated Ontario, a tall, walk-it-up-pound-it-in style team.

KEY PLAYERS--Sara Wilson and Anjanette Dionne (Hart), Mia Palkie (Buena), Kristin Knapp (Santa Barbara), Jennifer Sullivan (Ocean View), Karie Yoshioka and Sara Bone (El Toro), Jennifer Harney (Esperanza), Melisa Sortino (Marina) and Nicole Champion (Orange).

NOTEWORTHY--Three seeded teams this season--Hart, Ontario and Buena--advanced to the semifinals last year.