SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : 3-AA GIRLS : Brea-Olinda’s 52nd Consecutive Victory Brings a Second Title

Brea-Olinda High School won its second consecutive Southern Section girls’ championship with a 50-33 victory against Palos Verdes in the 3-AA title game Wednesday at Cal Poly Pomona.

The Lady Cats, 30-0 this season, won the 3-A and state Division III championships last year.

Coach Mark Trakh, though, was of no mind to rate his championships.

“They’re all super,” he said, after receiving several handshakes and hugs in congratulations. “They’re all great.”

Guard Aimee McDaniel scored 15 points and Tammy Blackburn stopped Palos Verdes’ top scorer to lead Brea-Olinda to its 52nd straight victory, the second longest by a girls’ Southern Section team to Riverside Poly’s 84.

McDaniel, 5-foot-6, struggled from the field, making just 5 of 18 field goals, but still nearly reached her average of 16.4.

“Everyone has an off night,” said McDaniel, the state Division III player of the year last year. “I’m just glad I play on a team where I have other players to pick me up.

“This was not the type of offense we wanted. We’re used to getting our points off the break. But this game wasn’t about offense, it was about defense.”

No one had to tell Blackburn the importance of defense. She was assigned to guard Palos Verdes guard Lisa Humphreys, who was averaging 15.4 points a game.

“I read all about Lisa Humphreys’ past history,” Blackburn said. “I knew she was a great player with a good shot.”

Yet Blackburn, playing man-to-man defense, held the 5-10 Humphreys to five points and a 2-of-18 shooting performance. Humphreys did not make a field goal until midway through the fourth quarter.

“She tried to run in the lane, run off screens, but I knew I had to stick with her,” Blackburn said. “My first priority was defense.”

Still, her play on offense also was impressive. The senior scored 12 points.

“She was super,” Trakh said. “She was the difference in the game.”

Palos Verdes (27-5) was led by 6-foot-3 sophomore Monique Morehouse, who scored 13 points.

Brea-Olinda led, 23-13, at halftime and 37-25 entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Cats pulled away by scoring nine straight points, five by McDaniel, to start the fourth quarter.

Despite building the leads, the Lady Cats hardly looked the team that dominated three previous playoff opponents by an average of 30 points a game. They shot poorly from the field (18 of 44) and struggled to find their fast-break offense.

Slowed by a 3-2 zone defense, Trakh said his team was forced to alter its up-tempo style.

“They extended the zone, forced us to shoot outside,” he said. “We played a half-court game. We beat them in a half-court game.”

Defensively, however, Brea-Olinda showed the form that held its playoff opponents to an average of 36 points a game. Against the Lady Cats’ man-to-man defense, Palos Verdes made just 4 of 25 field goals in the fist half.

For the game, the Sea Kings made just 13 of 54 shots.

“Defensively, we both played a good game,” Trakh said. “We were just 17 points better.”