Garner’s Early Exit Seals Tillers’ Fate in Their Loss to Gahr

Even after an extremely bitter end to the season, Tustin girls’ basketball Coach Rick Falk kept his sense of humor.

“Obviously, we were robbed,” Falk said to start his postgame remarks after the Tillers lost, 63-37, to Cerritos Gahr in the Southern Section II-AA girls’ final Saturday at the Bren Center.

“Well, maybe not.” No, Tustin wasn’t robbed, as Falk and everyone else knew. But the Tillers were frustrated.

Frustrated by their inability to put the ball in the basket (13 of 49 from the field). Frustrated by their inability to keep the Gladiators off the boards, where Gahr finished with a 49-32 rebound advantage.

And, most of all, Tustin was frustrated by Christine Garner’s foul trouble. When the 6-foot Garner was on the floor Saturday, Tustin was competitive with top-seeded Gahr. Problem: Garner only played 14 minutes before fouling out late in the third quarter.

“We can dominate when Christine is in, but we struggle when she isn’t,” Falk said.

In the first quarter, Garner’s only full quarter of action, she scored seven points, had four rebounds and a steal. Result: Tustin trailed only 14-13 going into the second quarter.

But Garner picked up two fouls in the first quarter, and early in the second she was called for her third. Knowing the Tillers would be overmatched without Garner inside, Falk decided to keep her in the game.

“Gahr had already run off 10 straight points (for a 24-13 lead), so we didn’t have much choice,” Falk said. “If we had been ahead or even when she got the third, I would have taken her out. But I couldn’t afford to today when we were already behind 10.”

With 4:38 left in the first half, Garner committed her fourth foul. Falk had no choice but to take her out, and Gahr extended the lead to 29-13 before a free throw by Kristin Kirkwood gave the Tillers’ their first point of the quarter.

Tustin didn’t make a field goal in the second quarter until Shari Needham scored 27 seconds before halftime. By then, Gahr was in control, 33-17.

By the time Garner re-entered the game in the third quarter, Gahr had a 20-point lead, and Tustin didn’t challenge the rest of the way.