STATE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Monarch Boys, Panther Girls Ready to State Their Cases : Division I: It is the final game for Peninsula standout guard Kristen Mulligan, who will lead the nation’s top-ranked team against Cupertino Monte Vista.

In the Southern California Division I regional final against Lynwood on Saturday at the Sports Arena, the Peninsula girls’ basketball team was leading Lynwood, 46-45, with 4 minutes 56 seconds remaining.

With a berth in the state championship game and a mythical national championship on the line, it was time for the Panthers to turn to their leader, senior point guard Kristen Mulligan.

Mulligan made a three-point basket and Peninsula was never challenged again as the Panthers pulled away for a 60-50 victory.

Mulligan, who led the Panthers with 19 points and six assists, has averaged 11 points a game along with five assists this season.

And she has been playing with a back injury that she suffered in practice two months ago.

“(The injury) is better, there’s only one game left, so I’m going to try to ignore it,” Mulligan said. “I’m wearing a brace and keeping it heated, but I don’t think about it when I’m playing.”

Mulligan’s injury came just prior to the start of Bay League play and she missed four games.

“That was really tough; I had never missed a high school game before, but I knew I had to sit out if I wanted to be ready (for the playoffs),” she said.

Peninsula Coach Wendell Yoshida said Mulligan may not be 100%, but she still rates ahead of most players.

“She’s slowed down by it, but she’s still a heck of a player,” he said. “There’s a lot of pain, but she’s a tough kid; she’s not going to show the pain. She’s handled it better than most kids would.”

The Panthers (32-0), ranked No. 1 in the nation by the USA Today, will play Cupertino Monte Vista (29-1) in the state championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

“It’s going to be something to remember and treasure forever,” Mulligan said. “There’s been a little pressure, even more so being No. 1, but hopefully we’ll finish No. 1.”

If there is pressure being the top-ranked team in the nation, it hasn’t seemed to affect Yoshida, who promised he would bring back a state championship trophy to Southern California.

“That doesn’t bother me,” Monte Vista Coach Virgil Pate said. “I would not make comments like that, but even if we come up short, we’re still the state runner-up. If I were him, I’d probably be saying the same thing.

“Our kids know the task ahead, there’s no pressure going into a ballgame like this. We’re the kind of team people pull for. We are scrappy; we fight and play hard; we’re not a machine. I’ve heard (Peninsula) is a machine, they’re basically an all-star team.”

Peninsula has four senior starters who have signed with Division I colleges. Mulligan and teammate Monique Morehouse will attend Auburn, Jeffra Gausepohl is going to Virginia and Raquel Alotis will play for UC Santa Barbara.

Monte Vista has one senior who has signed with a Division I school, 6-foot-1 center Melissa Wuschnig, who averages 19 points and 18 rebounds. She will attend Washington.

“She’s a great player. She’s tall but she plays like a guard,” Mulligan said of Wuschnig, who she played against in summer leagues in the past.

“We are a good team, but I don’t know if we’re the caliber of a Peninsula,” Pate said. “Basically they are going to come up here and win . . . but we’ll put up a fight. We’ll run and take chances. I think we can play with them in a sprint. I don’t think 6-3 kids can outrun 5-5 kids.”

Yoshida said he would welcome an up-tempo game. “We like to run,” he said. “We have more trouble with the teams that try to slow us down. What’s deceiving is that people look at our size and assume that we’re not that quick.”

Although Monte Vista is an underdog, Pate is confident.

“I don’t think my team will be walking in there thinking they are going to lose, but I would be an idiot if I said we were going to walk in there and whip them,” he said. “We’ll use a little bit of psychology on the girls. My whole point is that we have nothing to lose because we are supposed to lose.”

The two games against Lynwood in the playoffs have helped Peninsula, according to Mulligan.

“We know what to expect. We can tell from the beginning of the game that teams are out to get us,” she said. “The two most intense games we’ve played were against Lynwood. They were talking a lot before the game, but that just made us more ready for them.”