SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION II-AA : Brea-Olinda Stops Riverside North to Return to Final

What was supposed to be a rebuilding year is looking more and more like another Brea-Olinda Lady Cat championship season.

For the third consecutive year, the Lady Cats will be in a Southern Section division final after pulling away in the stretch to beat a rugged Riverside North team, 68-59, in Wednesday night’s semifinal at Sonora High School.

Brea (28-1) will be meeting Ventura for the Division II-AA championship at 8:15 p.m. Saturday at Cal Poly Pomona.

“Anything that happens from now on is dessert,” Brea Coach Mark Trakh said. “This will be our seventh time in the finals and our third straight. I’m very surprised. The kids did a great job in making the finals in spite of what we lost from last year, and we’re in a higher division.”

Against North (25-2), the Lady Cats’ Jody Anton made the big plays in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game that saw the score tied, 54-54, with 5 minutes 20 seconds remaining after the Huskies’ Yumeka Roberson hit three-point and two-point shots to erase a 54-49 Brea lead.

Brea took the lead for good, 56-54, after freshman point guard Nicole Erickson blocked a shot by North’s 6-foot-3 center Kisa Hughes and sank two free throws after driving downcourt and getting fouled on the layup attempt with 4:32 left in the game.

Anton hit a 15-footer from the side with 3:56 left to extend the lead to 58-54. But the play that seemed to break the back of North occurred at 3:12 when Anton rebounded Jinelle Williams’ missed free throw and was fouled by Hughes, her fourth of the night. Anton hit one of her free throws for a 59-54 lead.

Roberson’s basket with 58 seconds remaining closed the Lady Cat margin to 63-59. Anton, however, made another big play when she drove the key for a three-point play with 30 seconds left and a 66-59 Brea lead. Anton’s two free throws with eight seconds left iced the game.

“I think Anton is the best player in Orange County,” Trakh said. “Erickson did a tremendous job of handling the ball and shooting for us.”

Anton, a junior, scored 21 points for Brea and Erickson, a freshman added 17. Katie Bauer came off the bench to score 13 for the Lady Cats on six for seven shooting from the floor. Roberson led North with 21 points while Hughes contributed 19 and point guard Marrissa Frial added 16.