Leslie’s Second Half Leads Morningside

Los Angeles Washington High School girls’ basketball Coach Phil Chase said he won’t lose sleep over the opportunity his team let slip away Friday night at the Sports Arena in a 61-45 loss to Inglewood Morningside in the Division I Southern California Regional title game.

But he admitted that when his team failed to take advantage of the first-half foul trouble of the Monarchs’ Lisa Leslie, the game turned in Morningside’s favor.

Leslie was on the bench for most of the first half, but the Generals (29-4) led only 17-16 at halftime.

Leslie scored 32 second-half points and finished with a Regional championship game-record 37 on 16-of-20 shooting. She also led Morningside (31-3) with 12 rebounds and four steals.

Coach Frank Scott said his Monarchs “were very fortunate” to be down by just one going into the third quarter.

“We followed a familiar pattern for the playoffs,” he added, “with Lisa picking up fouls in the first half. Again, we were able to stay close with her out of there.”

Leslie--a senior center and Parade magazine’s Player of the Year--set the tone for the second half by stealing a pass on the Generals’ first possession in the third quarter. The steal led to a one-point Morningside lead. A three-point play by junior forward Akiba Flanagan gave the Monarchs the lead for good, 28-26, with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

On March 17 in Oakland, Morningside will play the winner of tonight’s Northern California Regional championship game between Berkeley and Nevada Union. The defending State Division I champion Monarchs will make their third consecutive trip to the Bay Area for a State title game.