SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION II-A ROUNDUP : Woodbridge Wins Sloppy Encounter

Imagine a horribly messy game and you have an idea of what Woodbridge’s 65-49 victory over visiting Glenn in the second round of the Division II-A playoffs looked like Tuesday night.

Not that the Warriors (22-5) were totally to blame for the sloppiness on the floor. They committed 24 turnovers and 14 fouls, but it was the helter-skelter, bone-crushing defense played by Glenn (21-5) that turned the game into a survival exercise.

The Lady Eagles, who were the Suburban League champions, were called for 21 personal fouls. And when they weren’t slamming into Woodbridge bodies, their bench kept pace vocally by picking up a couple of technical fouls for unsporstmanlike conduct by Coach Richard Drake.

“It was tough to prepare for that (defense),” Woodbridge Coach Russ Davis said.

But to their credit, the Warriors took their licking and kept on ticking. And all despite playing for a good portion of the game without their top player, 6-foot-2 senior center Deanna Harry, who picked up her third foul with 4 minutes, 5 seconds left before the half. Harry didn’t return until the 3:35 mark of the third period.

Harry equalled her lowest output of the year with 10 points, including only two in the first half. She was consistently double-teamed in the low post and considerably harrassed by Glenn’s aggressive defense.

“She (Harry) was frustrated because a couple of times during the game she was hammered inside and they (referees) didn’t call it,” Davis said.

With Harry out of commission, the Warriors went to senior guard Nicole Schwartz and junior forward Jenny Fenton. Schwartz finished with 17 points and Fenton had 11--most from around the free-throw line--and eight rebounds.

“I knew they’d leave the high post open,” said Davis of the Glenn defense. “That’s why I put Jenny there.”

After a mistake-marred start in which they turned the ball over in three of their first four possessions, the Warriors began to gradually pull away from Glenn.

Woodbridge was never threatened--except perhaps with bodily harm--and had 19-8 lead after one period and a 35-22 edge at the half. Glenn didn’t help itself, making only eight of 27 field goal attempts in the half.

The Warriors adjusted well defensively to Glenn’s run-and-gun offense and held junior forward Faye Hagan, who had 32 points Saturday in a first-round victory over La Puente, to 12 points. Senior forward Angelina Marin had a game-high 19 points for Glenn.

“If someone would have told me that Harry would play her worst game of the year and we would be ahead by 13 at the half, I would have told him he was crazy,” Davis said.