SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION II-A ROUNDUP : McLane Takes Over as Fullerton Rolls Past Kennedy, 60-49

When in the mood, Sommer McLane can be awesome on a basketball court.

The 5-foot-10 senior forward proved it Saturday night in leading Fullerton to a 60-49 victory over Kennedy in a first-round game of the Southern Section Division II-A girls’ basketball playoffs at Fullerton.

McLane scored a game-high 24 points and had 17 rebounds for the Indians, who advanced to a second-round game Wednesday against Mission Hills Alemany (22-4).

“She (McLane) played real well tonight,” Fullerton Coach Wendy Vrolyk said. “It’s the best game she’s played in a while.”

Although lackadaisical at times in previous games, McLane went at the Fighting Irish hard from the start. She had 16 of her team’s 34 first-half points, along with 10 of her rebounds and two blocked shots.

Fullerton (17-7), the Freeway League runner-up, combined an effective 1-3-1 zone defense with McLane’s play to neutralize the quickness of the smaller Kennedy players and forced the Fighting Irish (16-8) to shoot from outside.

Vrolyk said she went to a zone defense because Kennedy took advantage of Fullerton’s ineffective man-to-man defense in their nonleague game in December, beating the Indians, 50-45. In that game, McLane had only 11 points.

“With their offensive skills, we knew we had to put it in a zone,” Vrolyk said.

Kennedy took a 4-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game but never led again. Fullerton led by as many as 16 points (34-18 at the half) and Kennedy made a run at the Indians, pulling to within 50-44 with 2:54 to play, before Fullerton reeled off six consecutive points.

Fullerton’s Tiana Roberson finished with 16 points. Junior guard Lynly Matsumoto led Kennedy with 20 points, 12 of them in the fourth quarter.

In other Division II-A games:

El Modena 43, La Puente 42--With less 20 seconds left in the game, Melizza Benitez made a 15-foot shot to lead El Modena (14-6) past La Puente (13-10). Benitez also had 15 points, while Lisa Pacheco led La Puente with 18 points.

El Modena plays top-seeded Riverside Rubidoux (24-0) Wednesday.

Mission Viejo 32, La Habra 31--Kelly McGlothlin intercepted a La Habra pass with three seconds remaining to secure the upset victory for the Diablos (12-12) at La Habra.

Mission Viejo forward Maggie Gorska led all scorers with 13 points and McGlothlin added seven points and 10 rebounds. La Habra (16-7), the Freeway League champion, made only six of 20 free throws.

Mission Viejo advances to a second-round game Wednesday against Bishop Montgomery (21-6).

North Torrance 68, Troy 57--Brandee Richardson had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Jenny Gadd added 12 points and 11 rebounds for visiting Troy (15-7). Jennifer Tojo had 23 points to lead North Torrance.

Riverside Rubidoux 66, Bolsa Grande 46--Linh Quach had 18 points, including four three-pointers, and Brandie Tantardini had 14 points for visiting Bolsa Grande (7-16). Aisha Wilson had 23 points and 19 rebounds for top-seeded Rubidoux (24-0).

Savanna 63, Laguna Hills 46--Sara Works scored seven of her 21 points in the first quarter as the Rebels broke out to a 17-7 lead.

Stacey Aliff added 15 and Ame Hernandez 14 for Savanna (18-6), which will meet San Marcos (6-20) Wednesday. San Marcos upset second-seeded Norwalk Glenn (23-2).

Amy Feneillo had 20 for Laguna Hills (12-9).

Valencia 51, Norco 45--Anne Jones scored 20 points and Nicole Kubota had 15 to lead Valencia (14-11) past Norco (17-7). Amy Wunderlick had 29 points for Norco.

Valencia plays Westlake (21-5) Wednesday in the second round.