Brea-Olinda Continues to Roll Past Opponents

Five minutes 55 seconds. Second quarter. Don Meredith could have begun singing, “Turn out the lights . . . “

That’s when Brea-Olinda point guard Nicole Erickson scored on a layup to put the Brea-Olinda Ladycats ahead of West Covina South Hills, 26-3, in what turned out to be all the points her team would need Thursday night.

But with all those people dressed up and no place else to go, the demolition continued until Brea had a 74-25 victory over the Huskies in the semifinals of the Southern California Division III girls’ basketball regional playoffs.

The victory advances Brea (30-2) into the championship game against Rancho Alamitos (23-2) at 9 a.m. Saturday at the L.A. Sports Arena. It’s the fourth consecutive regional title game for the Ladycats, the defending State Division II champions.

If they play the way they have the past two games--Brea overwhelmed Santee West Hills, 96-16, in the first round Tuesday--Rancho Alamitos will have to play a flawless game. At least one observer Thursday, South Hills Coach Paul Reed, was awed by what he saw.

“I need to change my line of work,” Reed said. “They are awesome. They denied us every pass tonight. (Jody) Anton and (Nicole) Erickson are just incredible. Their team is so well-coached and they play so well together.”

Point guard Erickson had a game-high 15 points and forward Anton finished with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. She also had six steals and a blocked shot.

It was the last home game at Brea for Anton, one of the finest players in school history, who is headed to USC on a basketball scholarship next season.

Brea took a 16-0 lead before the Huskies (25-4) scored their first--and only--basket of the quarter on a layup by forward Stephanie Ring at the 2:54 mark. Brea center Colleen Hudson, who finished with 10 points, had the first three baskets of the game.

Brea’s tenacious man-to-man defense limited South Hills to six field-goal attempts in the first quarter. The Ladycats later switched to a zone defense, making it even more difficult for South Hills to find the hoop. The Huskies finished at 27.2% from the field (nine of 33). Brea, which was 31 of 75 (41.3%) had attempted 38 field goals by halftime.

South Hills spotted Brea 11 points to open the second half and fell behind, 47-10, before scoring with 3:59 to play on a layup by center Stephanie Cude off an inbounds pass. Cude tied Anton with 10 rebounds and was the second leading scorer for South Hills with seven points, behind guard Danielle Raabe’s nine points.

By the middle of the fourth quarter, Brea Coach Mark Trakh had his reserves on the floor. One of them, 5-foot-9 freshman forward Lee Moulin, scored eight points in the quarter.

The Huskies, who had 37 turnovers against Rancho Alamitos in the Southern Section Division III-A title game Saturday, committed 27 turnovers against Brea.