Morningside Reaches III-AA Final : Preps: Tina Thompson scores 21 points and Cha-ron Walker adds 20 as Monarchs beat Newport Harbor, 61-57.

Rules are rules, but Morningside Coach Rod Tatum was willing to be a little flexible Wednesday night in the case of Cha-ron Walker.

Walker did not start a Southern Section Division III-AA semifinal game against Newport Harbor after missing a practice because of the flu.

Tatum, though, didn’t keep the 6-foot senior forward on the bench for long.

Walker entered the game in the first quarter and scored 20 points to help the Monarchs to a 61-57 victory at Marina High in Huntington Beach.

“I wanted to hold her out for most of the first quarter, but things started looking bad,” Tatum said.

The Monarchs trailed by as many as 9 points in the first half, but Tina Thompson made a free throw to break a 54-54 tie with 1 minute and 15 seconds to play.

Thompson missed a second free throw, but Walker grabbed the rebound and scored to give Morningside a 57-54 lead.

“Tina is our backbone,” said Walker, who also had seven rebounds. “I’ve been sick for two days and I’d have to sit out, but we knew I’d have to play extremely hard to win.”

Thompson, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, made two free throws, and Morningside (25-2) had a 59-54 lead with 37 seconds left.

Newport Harbor’s Kala Ross scored a game-high 33 points.

Morningside had used a 5-0 run to overcome a 50-49 deficit and go ahead, 54-50, on a free throw by Asia Edwards with 2:48 to play.

The Sea View League champion Sailors (25-2) tied the score on a basket by Gina Heads and free throws by Mandy Clayton with 1:24 left.

Morningside, which has won 15 games in a row, will meet Alemany (25-4) in the championship Saturday at Loyola Marymount.

The Monarchs, who advanced to the Division III-AA title game last season, squandered an 8-point second-quarter lead and fell behind, 30-23, at halftime.

The Monarchs had scored 8 consecutive points to open a 17-9 lead on a basket by Walker with 6:32 left in the second quarter.

The Sailors went ahead, 20-19, three minutes later on a layup by Genevieve Evarts.

Newport Harbor increased its lead to 30-23 on two free throws by Ross with 24 seconds to play in the first half.