HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GIRLS’ DIVISION I STATE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP : Morningside Defeats Clovis West

Inglewood Morningside girls’ basketball team continued its four-year domination of the Southern Regional State tournament by routing Clovis West, 52-40, Saturday in the Division I final at the Sports Arena.

Morningside, the two-time defending State Division I champion, wore down the Golden Eagles, the Central Section champion, with junior 6-foot-4 center Janet Davis scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, and sophomore 6-2 forward Tina Thompson taking in a team-high 23 rebounds.

Morningside (32-2) had problems early in taking a 12-10 first quarter lead, but the Monarchs pulled away late in the second quarter to lead 26-19 at halftime, behind Davis’ 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“We just wanted to get the ball inside to the post,” Morningside senior guard Princess Murray said, who scored 10 points. “Their defense didn’t give us any problems at all.”

Morningside opened up in the third quarter, with Thompson controlling the boards with 12 second- half rebounds and eight points. Clovis West, which lost to Morningside during the regular season, was simply overmatched.

“We wanted to take advantage of our size and Davis really came through for us tonight,” Morningside Coach Ron Randle said.

Randle is in his first year after replacing Frank Scott, who is now an assistant at USC, where former Morningside standout Lisa Leslie is a freshman.

Morningside will play Berkeley, the Northern Regional champion, in the State final in Oakland. Morningside defeated Berkeley in last season’s final.

“We want to go up North and play Berkeley to maintain our top ranking in the state,” Randle said.