DIVISION I-A ROUNDUP : Marina Dumps Chino; Big Challenge Ahead

Now the going gets tough.

Marina played the rude host Saturday night, scoring a 55-36 Southern Section Division I-A girls’ basketball quarterfinal victory over Chino in Huntington Beach.

For disposing of the Cowgirls, the Vikings won the right to play unbeaten Thousand Oaks (28-0), which is the top-seeded team in the division and is top-ranked in the state. The site of that game has yet to be determined.

Marina, the fourth-seeded team in the division, will need an effort like it got against Chino (18-8), the five-time Baseline League champion. Marina Coach Pete Bonny didn’t have to try too hard to find the key contributors.

Aimee Periolat scored eight points, but made a real contribution defensively. She held Chino’s Amee Pina to only 13 points. Pina, averaging 18 points, broke the Southern Section record this year for most three-point baskets in a season. After making three of them against Marina, she finished with 113, eight more than Edison’s Debbie Fischer had in 1989-90.

Traci Nakamura scored 11 points, including five of Marina’s 11 points in the second quarter, as the Vikings stretched a 14-13 lead to 25-19. She matched Pina’s three-point output, hitting three.

The bench played tough. Only two starters played most of the second quarter. Jessica Trippet and Shandy Robbins were in foul trouble, and they were ably replaced by Jessica Smillie, Karissa Eury, Martita Emde and Michelle Matus.

Robbins, a sophomore, dominated the third quarter, scoring 10 of Marina’s 17 points. She made two 15-footers, scored on an impressive move from underneath the backboard, battled for a basket underneath and took a nice lob over the defense. She finished with 14 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.

Trippet put Chino away in the fourth quarter. Neither team scored in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the final quarter, but Trippet dominated the remainder of the game, with eight of Marina’s 13 points and half of her six rebounds. It was especially important for Marina because Robbins fouled out with 3:32 remaining. Trippet finished with 12 points.

“We went to (Robbins) because (Chino) had somebody shorter on her,” Bonny said. “I think (Robbins) scored because (Chino) double- and triple-teamed Trippet.”

In another Division I-A game:

Ventura Buena 64, Huntington Beach 60--Michelle Giordano and Amanda Falls hit two free throws each in the final 28 seconds to seal the victory for host third-seeded Buena (21-2).

Senior guard Deana Itow scored 22 points and senior forward Clare Walker added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Oilers (25-3), which had a 15-game winning streak snapped with the loss. Julie Hardy had 19 points, and Giordano added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Buena.