Peninsula Girls Hold Off Brea-Olinda : Basketball: Nation’s top-ranked team needs four free throws from Kristen Mulligan in the final 19 seconds to secure a 48-42 victory.

For a while Saturday night, the Brea-Olinda High girls’ basketball team seemed on the verge of turning upside-down what has been a spotless season by Peninsula, the nation’s top-rated team according to USA Today.

But in the waning moments, the Panthers pulled themselves together and hung on for a 48-42 nonleague victory in front of a capacity crowd of 2,200 at Brea.

Peninsula (15-0) got four free throws in the final 19 seconds from guard Kristen Mulligan to secure the victory after Brea had closed the margin to 44-42 with 23 seconds to play.

“They (Brea) find ways to stay in the game,” Peninsula Coach Wendell Yoshida said. “They got us into their (halfcourt) tempo and gave us trouble.”

Brea (12-2), the No. 1 team in Orange County, had plenty of trouble of its own, courtesy of Peninsula’s 6-foot-5 center Jeffra Gausepohl.

The Ladycats could not control Gausepohl inside. She scored a game-high 21 points and had 16 rebounds. Nine of her points came in the first quarter, when Peninsula outscored Brea, 12-7.

Peninsula opened an 18-12 lead midway through the second quarter on a Gausepohl basket, but Brea tied it, 22-22, on a 15-foot jump shot by forward Jody Anton with 56 seconds to play in the half.

The teams were tied, 38-38, with 2 minutes 34 seconds remaining in the game after Brea center Colleen Hudson scored on a layup. But a basket by Gausepohl and two free throws by guard Raquel Alotis gave the Panthers a 42-38 edge.