GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Underdog Mt. Carmel Shocks Poway with a 60-57 Victory

Playing the make-or-break game of the season against No. 1 Poway, Mt. Carmel shocked the 500 fans at Sundevil Arena Tuesday night with a 60-57 Palomar League victory over Poway.

“The last thing I told them before the game was that they were the underdogs, and if they didn’t believe in upsets, they had a short memory,” Mt. Carmel Coach Tracey Johnson said. “This was the turning point of our season.”

Poway (13-3, 4-1) lost to a San Diego team for the first time this season and drops into a tie for first.

Fourth-ranked Mt. Carmel (9-3, 4-1)--which dropped from No. 2 after a loss earlier to Fallbrook--played without starter Angie Cooper (broken finger) and had two others, Tammy Brokaw (flu) and Kelly McGuire (sprained ankle), play despite not being 100%.

Brokaw scored 10 points and protected Mt. Carmel’s one-point lead by blocking Jamie Shadian’s shot with eight seconds left, then made two free throws to extend the lead to three.

Kris Grazzini scored a team-high 15 points, Jennifer Alley and Michelle McDowell scored 10 for Mt. Carmel.

Stephanie Guerena’s three-point attempt with two seconds left went in and out, and Brokaw smothered the rebound.

Allison Brady led Poway with 20 points. Shadian had 17 and Guerena 12.

Mt. Carmel outscored Poway 19-14 in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 10 points in the third.