HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Rancho Bernardo Bolts From Gritty Escondido

Threatening to pull off one of the bigger girls’ basketball upsets this season, Escondido matched third-ranked Rancho Bernardo point for point for three quarters Thursday night before the Broncos pulled away and won, 68-51, at Rancho Bernardo.

“The score’s a little misleading,” Rancho Bernardo Coach Peggy Brose said, “because it wasn’t a game we had under control until about three or four minutes left.

“We didn’t do that much differently in the fourth quarter. We just started hitting our shots.”

After both teams scored 45 points in the first 24 minutes, Rancho Bernardo outscored Escondido, 23-6, in the final period to improve to 11-1, 2-0 in the Avocado League. Escondido fell to 5-6, 1-1.

The Cougars played terrific defense for three quarters, gave it everything they had, but in the end were done in by Rancho Bernardo’s superior depth.

Playing man-to-man defense on Rancho Bernardo’s three top scorers--Robin Blalock, Jessica Porter and Carol Pajarillo--Escondido held them to two points in the first quarter.

Blalock eventually finished with 16 points, six coming in the fourth quarter. Amy Franzen added 12 points, and Pajarillo, Danielle DeWeese and Rosie Cella scored 10 apiece.

“Rosie and Danielle played great for us,” Brose said. “The two of them kept us in the ballgame. Without them, we probably would have lost. A lot of credit goes to Escondido. They did a great job. I guess they were ready and we weren’t.”

Cindy Vanderwoude led the Cougars with 17 points.

In other Avocado games:

Carlsbad 58, El Camino 24--Three Carlsbad players scored in double figures and the defense dominated El Camino. Carlsbad led 36-13 at halftime, 50-20 after three quarters.

Vanessa Nygaard scored 15 points, and she got support from Renee Demirdjian (13 points) and Holly Gerdes (11).

Fourth-ranked Carlsbad, Division II finalists last year, improved to 7-2, 2-0. El Camino is 0-2 in league play.

El Camino’s Monica Belford scored 10 points.

Metro Conference

Hilltop 56, Montgomery 47--Amy Mara and Shalonda Houston had 15 points apiece in a losing effort for Montgomery (5-7, 1-2).

Palomar League

Poway 62, Rancho Buena Vista 34--Poway (11-2, 2-0) held a 32-15 halftime lead and coasted to the finish. The Titans were led by Jamie Shadian, who scored 15 points. She was backed by Kara Milling and Allison Brady, who scored 12 points apiece.

Dottie Feeney led Rancho Buena Vista (6-8, 0-2) with 15 points and Jennifer Harris added 10. Tori Anderson led Longhorn rebounders with seven.

Orange Glen 53, San Dieguito 37--Orange Glen (8-4, 2-0) outscored San Dieguito 22-8 in the fourth quarter to overcome a two-point deficit and remain undefeated in league play.

“It’s hard to put a finger on (the difference), really,” Orange Glen Coach Frank Vannest said. “Some of the shots started falling that we hadn’t gotten earlier, and we eliminated some turnovers, so we got more shots.”

Macina Smith had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Orange Glen, and Amber Cravey had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Carol Clinger added 12 points for the Patriots.

Catherine Taylor scored 10 points for San Dieguito (6-5, 0-2).

Fallbrook 46, Torrey Pines 39--Fallbrook (6-5, 1-1) built a 25-16 halftime advantage that Torrey Pines was unable to overcome. Marcia Jeffries scored 17 for Fallbrook and Stacey Fordice added 10 points.

“We still haven’t played four good quarters yet,” Fallbrook Coach Gerry Port said. “Every game is going to be a struggle unless we’re able to concentrate for a full 32 minutes. This is not a league that you can relax in.”

Fordice led Fallbrook with 11 rebounds and Andrea Strategos had nine rebound to go with eight points.

Torrey Pines (7-5, 1-1) got 14 points from Nada Tomic. Laura Wynne made three three-point baskets, one short of the school record, and finished with nine points.

Nonleague

Mira Mesa 39, Vista 37--Vista led by seven after three quarters and by as many nine in the fourth before Mira Mesa (7-7), going to man-to-man pressure, outscored the Panthers 13-4 in the final eight minutes. Vista’s DeAngela Minter, who finished with 23 points, was held to only two points in the fourth quarter. Mira Mesa’s Linda Collins (10 points) had a three-point play in the final minute and tied the game at 37, and Becky Lewis (six points) scored the game-winner with 36 seconds remaining. Lewis had four fourth-quarter points. Jennifer Miner scored 15 for Mira Mesa.

Francis Parker 53, Calvin Christian 47--Julie Cheskaty scored 27 points to lead Parker. Calvin Christian got 13 points from Kim Verhoeven.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Nonleague

Christian 59, La Jolla 50--David Parris hit three three-point baskets and finished with 15 points to lead Christian (11-2). Parris got help from Jeremy Garrett (14 points, four blocks, seven rebounds) and Pat Keough (11 points, four steals, eight rebounds).

WRESTLING

Avocado League

Carlsbad 37, San Marcos 21--Sean Selin (135 pounds) scored a pin in 21 seconds--14 seconds off the school record by Aldino Martinez set in 1982--and Steve Garcia (160) added another fall in 5:14 to lift Carlsbad (7-2, 1-0), which shared the league title last year with Oceanside and Escondido.