St. Bernard Girls Are No Match for Palos Verdes, 75-52 : High schools: Sea Kings advance to Saturday’s regional final. They will play Lompoc.

Another playoff game, another blowout for the Palos Verdes High girls’ basketball team.

It was business as usual Thursday night as the Sea Kings continued their march to the state final in Oakland by trampling St. Bernard, 75-52, in the semifinals of the Southern California Division III playoffs at Palos Verdes.

The Sea Kings (30-2), whose average margin of victory in six postseason games is 39 points, will play in their third regional final in four years at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena against Lompoc (24-3), a 65-58 semifinal winner over Santana High of Santee.

Palos Verdes defeated Lompoc, 69-36, Saturday for the Southern Section Division III-AA title.

St. Bernard (25-7), the Southern Section III-A champion, was never in Thursday’s game despite a fine performance by guard Joi Turner, who overcame one-for-11 shooting in the first half to finish with a game-high 32 points. She scored all 21 of the Vikings’ third-quarter points.

“She was pretty awesome,” Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida said of Turner. “Then again, it’s a team sport. One girl can’t do it all.”

The Sea Kings drove that point home with another balanced effort.

Five girls scored in double figures for Palos Verdes, which held leads of 29-9 after the first quarter, 42-13 at halftime and 50-16 early in the third quarter.

Freshman forward Mimi McKinney led the way with 15 points, followed by point guard Kristen Mulligan and forward Monique Morehouse with 12 each, off-guard Raquel Alotis with 11 and 6-foot-5 center Jeffra Gausepohl with 10.

Other than Turner, no St. Bernard player scored in double figures. Turner made 12 of 33 shots and connected on four three-point baskets in the second half.

After Palos Verdes raced to an early lead, the game became more physical than Yoshida would have liked. St. Bernard committed several hard fouls and two starters--starting forwards Shameka McArthur and Meredith Hardy--fouled out in the fourth quarter.

“I thought the referees let it get a little out of hand,” Yoshida said. “(St. Bernard’s) girls took advantage of it. They seemed more concerned with rough-housing than the game.

“It makes you lose your concentration. Your natural reaction is to fight back, and you can’t do that.”

Palos Verdes made its strongest statement on the court, especially in the first half. The Sea Kings opened a 20-point lead in the first quarter behind eight points by McKinney. They extended it in the second quarter by limiting St. Bernard to four points.