SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Alhambra Comeback Falls Short Against Channel Islands, 44-42

The Channel Islands High girls’ basketball team wore knee pads in anticipation of a physical contest against Alhambra on Saturday night.

And a physical contest is what it got.

The teams were whistled for 39 fouls, 20 against Channel Islands. But the Raiders persevered and held off a furious Alhambra comeback to emerge with a 44-42 victory in a Southern Section 5-AA Division second-round playoff game at Channel Islands.

Channel Islands led by as many as 15 points in the second half and was ahead, 43-36, with 1 minute 40 seconds to play when Alhambra rallied in earnest.

The Raiders converted only 10 of 21 free throws in the game and only one of three free throws in the final minute as Alhambra (19-7) closed to within two points with three seconds left on a three-point shot by Janet Lee (13 points).

Sal Tauau scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Channel Islands (22-6), and Candis Carper and Virgie Juarez each scored nine points.

“My heart was really beating during this one,” Channel Islands Coach Ryle Lynch-Cole said. “It was a total team effort tonight. We needed our bench and they came through.”

Tauau and Carper--Channel Islands’ leading rebounder and scorer--were forced to sit out the second quarter in foul trouble, but Juarez, elevated from the junior varsity for the playoffs, came off the bench to score nine points, all in the first half as the Raiders took a 20-14 lead at intermission.

Channel Islands, the Marmonte League co-champion, will take on Morningside, an 85-39 winner over Antelope Valley on Saturday.

“We’re looking forward to Morningside,” Lynch-Cole said.

That’s because Lynch-Cole wants to see how Tauau matches up against Morningside’s 6-foot-5 center, Lisa Leslie, who scored 101 points in one half earlier this season.

Both teams had trouble finding the range early, combining for only 10 points in the first 6 1/2 minutes.

Channel Islands held a 6-4 advantage before Juarez hit a three-point basket and CeeCee Santiago made a free throw within a 20-second span.

Tauau was the dominant force in the second half, scoring half of the Raiders’ 24 second-half points, most of them coming on inside shots.

Trang Quach of Alhambra led all scorers with 18 points.