CENTURY LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Villa Park Sputters, Then Surges Past El Modena

Listless and tentative through the first half, Villa Park rebounded and put El Modena on the defensive the rest of the way for a 55-43 victory Thursday in a girls’ basketball Century League showdown for first place at Villa Park High.

“Finally, they just got into playing and stopped worrying about being scared of El Modena,” said Villa Park Coach Len Whitaker, whose team lost to El Modena three weeks ago.

The Spartans (10-6, 5-1) also started playing defense, which was almost nonexistent in the first half, as El Modena (7-9, 4-2) ran off to a 23-12 second-quarter lead. El Modena persistently powered the ball inside to 6-foot-2 Jamie Shine (14 points) and 6-1 Karen Bartkiewicz, who scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half.

But the Vanguards struggled to work the ball inside during the second half, as Villa Park guards Tara Earl (six steals) and Michelle Miyake forced turnovers on the perimeter.

Earl, who had a game-high 26 points with two three-pointers, scored seven points in a 9-4 third-quarter run that gave Villa Park a 37-34 lead.

“She’s fairly aggressive now, huh?” Whitaker said of Earl, a senior who also had five rebounds and two assists. “She never shot a three-pointer as a junior. She’s a fiery competitor.”

After Bartkiewicz scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to trim Villa Park’s lead to 41-38, the Spartans scored the next eight points and were never threatened.

In another league game:

Canyon 57, Santa Ana Valley 47--Rona Rathod and Sandy Fish scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Canyon (4-3 in league). Canyon led by eight, 29-21, at the half. Norah Mariner scored 14 points for host Santa Ana Valley (7-12, 3-3).