Rigley Leads Alemany Into Final With Do-Everything Performance

The sophomore jinx hit El Dorado High’s basketball team Wednesday night--and she was wearing an Alemany uniform.

Alemany forward Samantha Rigley scored 11 points, pulled down key rebounds, made important steals and even played point guard down the stretch during the Indians’ 62-55 victory in a Southern Section Division III-AA semifinal at Harvard-Westlake.

“She’s the best overall player we’ve faced all year,” said Gary Raya, the El Dorado coach. “She shot the ball, rebounded and handled the ball. She was the team leader . . . and she’s just a sophomore. Boy, she’s gonna be a hell of a player.’

Change that to is.

Wrigley was a starter on last year’s Division II-A championship team and is the heart of this year’s squad, which plays Morningside, a 61-57 winner over Newport Harbor, on Saturday at Loyola Marymount.

“There’s stuff missing (compared to last year’s team),” Rigley said. “We don’t have the height, for example, but we still have the heart, which is the most important thing.”

El Dorado, which trailed almost the entire game, tied it, 37-37, in the third quarter, but the Indians (25-4) put together a 10-5 run to close the period.

And it was Rigley who keyed the spurt.

She stole the ball on three of El Dorado’s final four possessions of the quarter, including the last two on which she was the only Indian defending against the fast break.

On the quarter’s final play, Rigley picked the ball cleanly from a driving Kim Korsmeier and passed to Zevette Mitchell (12 points) for a layup at the buzzer.

After Rigley’s free throw gave Alemany a 50-45 lead early in the fourth quarter, Rigley drove through the Golden Hawk defense for layups on consecutive possessions, giving the Indians a 54-47 advantage.

“She’s a seasoned player,” Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy said. “She’s a floor leader. Everybody has confidence in her.”

El Dorado cut the deficit to 58-55 with 1 minute 37 seconds remaining on Korsmeier’s foul shot, but couldn’t hit its shots on the next two possessions and Rigley came down with the rebound both times.

Alemany sophomore Kelly McKay hit two free throws with under a minute to play to seal the victory.

McKay, who broke the sesamoid bone in her right foot in January and had played only a minute since then, played for over 20 minutes Wednesday.

Kathy Brown led the Indians with 14 points, including eight in the third quarter. Freshman Carly Funicello added 10.

Shanna Renken had 13 points for the Golden Hawks (27-3).