GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Poway Looks Invincible in Quarterfinal Rout of San Dieguito

What’s it going to take in these San Diego Section Division I girls’ basketball playoffs to knock off top-seeded Poway?

“(No one’s) going to do it,” San Dieguito Coach John Brennan said Friday after watching Poway beat his team, 72-43.

OK, what if Poway (24-1) has an off night and another team plays out of its mind?

“Mt. Carmel may have a shot, but . . .” Brennan paused, “I don’t know.”

Poway did have an off night against the Mustangs in the section quarterfinals. And San Dieguito (5-17) did play above its head, Brennan said.

Still, the Titans were just too much and recorded their 21st consecutive victory. Since losing to Mt. Carmel early in the season, the Titans have played only two games in which they have won by fewer than 10 points. They beat San Pasqual by six in December, and they beat Fallbrook by eight points four weeks ago. They opened the playoffs with a 58-point victory over Mt. Miguel.

Poway had six players score seven or more points, led by Allison Brady’s 13 and Kara Berg’s 12.

Additional scoring came from Kristen Carlson and Stephanie Guerena, who had nine points apiece. Carlson, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, had eight blocked shots and nine rebounds in barely more than two quarters of action.

“They have what a lot of girls don’t have, and that’s knowledge of the game,” Brennan said. “They do a lot of the little things, and it’s the little things that make that team really good.”

Brennan would know. His team has lost by 58 and 50 points to the Titans during Palomar League games.

“We happen to have some smart basketball players,” Poway Coach Jay Trousdale said. “They know where the open man is and they get it to her. They have basketball experience.

“But we were not mentally in the game in the first half. We missed our first seven free throws, we threw balls away and we went to the wrong spot on out-of-bounds plays.”

Which, if you are Fallbrook or Southwest, is the scary thing about playing the Titans in the Wednesday semifinals.

Certainly, the score could have been worse. Poway was only 12-for-28 from the free-throw line and missed countless shots under the basket in shooting 30-for-69 from the field. And though Poway forced 25 San Dieguito turnovers, the Titans committed 18 turnovers themselves.