HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Castle Park Pair Too Much for Oceanside, Conston

In the Avocado League, Oceanside’s Mildred Conston pretty much had things her own way--averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks a game.

But Friday night at Chula Vista, Conston ran into something she had not seen much of in the Avocado: inside players, specifically Erica Ockert and Christina Murguia, who could match up with her.

Conston still scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds, but Ockert and Murguia more than countered that, combining for 33 points and 26 rebounds in Castle Park’s 49-42 victory over Oceanside in the Division II girls’ quarterfinals.

As a reward, fourth-seeded Castle Park (19-5) gets top-seeded Point Loma (24-3) in Wednesday’s semifinals at San Dieguito High.

Terry Scaife, Oceanside’s assistant coach, realized early there might be trouble when his only option, Conston, had problems getting the ball against Castle Park’s three-two zone. Oceanside’s guards had six turnovers in the first quarter attempting to pass the ball to Conston.

“It’s always been that way--that Conston’s our only threat,” Scaife said. “They just made it obvious tonight. But you have to look at what we have to work with. Our kids over-achieved, even coming this far.”

Scaife said Conston had never seen the likes of Murguia and Ockert.

“We never ran into a team as physical as these girls,” Scaife said. “We ran into our match tonight. They were a lot better than I thought.

“They definitely took (Conston) out of her game. That’s the first time I’ve seen that happen.”

Conston, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, had scored only 11 points until the last minute, when she sank two-three pointers.

But Murguia, only a junior, did most of her damage early, scoring 14 points in the first half.

Meanwhile, Ockert had eight of her 14 points in the second half.

Castle Park, which had been eliminated in the playoffs by Oceanside the past two years, led 12-7 after a quarter, 28-17 at half and 38-28 after three quarters.

The lead reached 49-36 before Castle Park Coach Chuck Mills cleared his bench.

Mills said he is already looking ahead to Wednesday’s Murguia-Tyeast Brown showdown.

“I want to see if Tyeast Brown can play with Christina Murguia,” Mills said. “I think Christina Murguia is the best in the county by far.”