GIRLS’ BASKETBALL DIVISION I : With Game on Line, Mt. Carmel Survives

With zero seconds remaining, and Mt. Carmel leading Santana, 56-54, Friday night at Golden Hall, Santana senior Rebecca Aase stood alone on the free throw line, took a deep breath, aimed and let it fly.

Good. 56-55.

She seemed neither anxious nor hurried as she prepared for the second free throw. Bounce, bounce. She shot, the ball teased the net . . . and fell away. And Mt. Carmel had won its second San Diego Section Division I girls’ basketball title in three years.

“She’s a tough girl, she’ll bounce back,” Santana Coach Wade Vickery said.

It was a fitting ending for a game in which the emotion bounced back and forth all night.

Mt. Carmel (22-5) had its share of heroes:

--There was Tara Schwerin, a little senior guard who was determined to keep her team in the hunt after Mt. Carmel lost star forward Vicki de Jesus to fouls with 5:09 to play. Schwerin scored the points that won it, intercepting a Santana outlet pass with 10 seconds left, racing downcourt and hitting the layup that made it 56-54.

--There was de Jesus herself, who was forced to watch as her teammates tried to salvage the lead she had, in great part, established. She had scored 20 points and fought hard for 17 rebounds.

--There was Coach Peggy Brose, whose next loss (Mt. Carmel advanced to the Southern California Regionals next week) will be her last for the Sundevils. She will transfer to Rancho Bernardo High School as a department head next year.

“This is a hell of a way to end my (section) career at Mt. Carmel,” Brose said.

And a hell of a way to end what was a pins-and-needles game from the opening tipoff.

After two physical quarters, Mt. Carmel had a 30-26 lead going into the locker room. The Sundevils reemerged and went on a 5-0 run, but Santana countered with a 10-0 run of its own to take its first lead, 38-35, since early in the first quarter.

But Mt. Carmel had the advantage back after three quarters, 42-40.

De Jesus came out like a bolt of lightning in the fourth, scoring two field goals and picking up her fourth foul within two minutes. Mt. Carmel led, 48-41.

When she fouled out, an eerie hush fell over the auditorium. The highly partisan Mt. Carmel fans knew this was not a good thing.

“You could just feel us slump,” Brose said.

Santana (24-5) crept back and took its next lead, 51-50, with 3:09 remaining when Stephanie Thompson scored off her own rebound.

Santana extended it to 54-51 before Mt. Carmel’s Kris Grazzini tied it at 54 on a three-point play with 27 seconds left. Soon after, Schwerin was racing in with the winning points.

“I’ve been missing those all season,” Schwerin said. “But I told myself there was no way we were losing that game.”