STATE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Peninsula Shrugs Off Pesky Lynwood

Because of the balance on the Peninsula High girls’ basketball team, Coach Wendell Yoshida says he probably will break tradition and not pick a most valuable player this season.

In Yoshida’s mind, the Lady Panthers have five MVPs.

It was tough to argue with that thinking Saturday night, as Peninsula’s starting five pulled together in the final five minutes to turn back Lynwood, 60-50, in the championship game of the Southern California Division I regional at the Sports Arena.

Peninsula (32-0), the top-ranked team in the nation, will play Monta Vista of Cupertino (29-1) for the state title at 8 p.m. Saturday at Arco Arena in Sacramento. Monta Vista won the Northern California regional Saturday night with a 56-50 victory over Berkeley, last season’s State Division I champion.

“We’ll bring a state championship back to Southern California,” Yoshida said.

Senior point guard Kristen Mulligan led a balanced attack for the Lady Panthers with 19 points, including a three-point shot with 4:56 left that extended a one-point lead to 49-45. Lynwood never got closer than three after that.

“I think it was our players’ poise and maturity that made the difference,” Yoshida said.

Peninsula needed all of its resources to beat Lynwood for the second time in a week. The Knights, behind a game-high 25 points from sophomore guard and Morningside transfer Timicha Kirby, kept battling back from deficits until Peninsula finally put them away late in the game.

“We’d get a 10-point lead, and then I’d look up (at the scoreboard) and it would be two,” said Yoshida, whose team beat Lynwood, 54-44, last week in the Southern Section Division I-AA final. “Having just lost to us, I think they had a lot of fuel under their fire.”

Peninsula extinguished Lynwood’s upset bid with big plays down the stretch.

After Lynwood (28-3) pulled within 51-48 on a three-point shot by Kirby, sophomore forward Mimi McKinney made a three-point shot with 2:17 left to give Peninsula a 54-48 lead and start a 7-0 run. A hook shot by senior center Jeffra Gausepohl and two free throws by senior guard Raquel Alotis completed the run, making it 58-48 with 19.6 seconds left.

“We were coming back strong until the final two minutes,” Kirby said.

Lynwood Coach Maurice Roberson and Kirby said the difference in the game was the floor leadership provided by Peninsula’s Mulligan, who continually broke the Knights’ press and led the Lady Panthers with six assists.

“The key to the whole thing is Kristy,” Roberson said of Mulligan. “She will penetrate on you, she knows when to (pass) and she’s a floor leader . . . She makes things happen.”

As vital a role as Mulligan played in the victory, it was by no means the only important performance for Peninsula. Senior forward Monique Morehouse had 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, McKinney had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Gausepohl had nine points and nine rebounds. Alotis scored eight points, including two three-point shots.

“Everybody on this team has a role,” Yoshida said. “I think we are successful because everyone plays their role to the best of their ability.”

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Janet Davis, Lynwood’s 6-foot-4 center, was hindered because of a groin pull. She played only 16 minutes and failed to score, missing all four of her shots. Lynwood was also hurt by five-of-13 free-throw shooting.

In contrast, Peninsula made 13 of 16 foul shots and took advantage of Davis’ absense to gain a 45-28 rebounding edge.

“We could have made some free throws,” Roberson said. “That would have helped.”

Lynwood opened a 10-4 lead but lost it quickly when Peninsula closed the first quarter with a 10-2 spurt to take a 14-12 lead. From there, the Lady Panthers led the rest of the game.