GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Newport Harbor’s Hot Hand Too Much for Woodbridge

Newport Harbor’s blistering shooting in the third quarter was enough to counter a late Woodbridge rally and hand the Warriors their first Sea View League girls’ basketball loss, 46-44, Thursday at Woodbridge High School.

The Sailors (9-5, 4-0 in league) trailed, 21-16, at the half. But Newport Harbor hit seven of 10 shots from the field in the third quarter and five of seven from the free-throw line.

Woodbridge, however, connected on only one of 14 attempts. The Warriors relied on free throws for its other four third-quarter points, and fell behind, 35-27.

Woodbridge revived in the fourth quarter. With three minutes left in the game, the Warriors (10-5, 3-1) were down by six, 40-34. Newport Harbor starter Michaela Ross had fouled out and two other Sailor players had four fouls.

But the Warriors had problems of their own. Nicole Quinn left the game with an ankle injury with 2:26 to go, and Melanie Pearson fouled out 16 seconds later. Then they fouled Genevieve Evarts twice in the final 30 seconds. “That really hurt us,” Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs said. “We fouled the wrong person.”

Evarts made both ends of a one-and-one for a 44-39 lead with 30 seconds to play, then hit two more free throws for a 46-41 advantage with 12 seconds to play to put the game just out of Woodbridge’s reach. She led Newport Harbor with 11 points.

Freshman point guard Tami Weaver led the Warriors with 14 points.