DIVISION I-AA GIRLS : Capistrano Valley Out of Form in 58-41 Loss to Lynwood

Capistrano Valley’s first appearance in a Southern Section championship game landed it a place in history.

As a footnote.

Lynwood, ranked No. 2 in the state and seeded No. 1 in the Division I-AA girls’ basketball playoffs, won its 27th game without a loss by scoring a 58-41 victory over Capistrano Valley Saturday at Loyola Marymount.

With Lynwood’s victory--and coupled with Thousand Oaks’ 44-43 loss to Ventura Buena in the I-A final--the Knights are the section’s only undefeated team.

Capistrano Valley (24-4) saw its 14-game winning streak snapped.

Lynwood, ranked seventh nationally by USA Today, is no stranger to the finals. The Knights won the Section title in 1986 and finished second in 1988, 1990 and 1992. After eliminating Capistrano Valley in last year’s semifinals, they were beaten by Rolling Hills Peninsula.

Fourth-seeded Capistrano Valley was no slouch, either, entering as the state’s ninth-ranked team and fifth in Division I. But the Cougars’ night began poorly, even before the opening tip-off.

The Cougars weren’t allowed to wear the uniform they brought with them. Coach Harlan Peet was under the impression his team was the home team and brought white jerseys; however, the higher-seeded team was the home team.

Peet said his team won a coin toss to determine the seed. It didn’t matter. Instead, his club wore brown warm-up jersey tops which, fortunately, had numbers on the back.

So, while Lynwood warmed up before the game, the Cougars were changing clothes.

Capistrano Valley shot only 29% from the field (6 of 21) in the half, while Lynwood shot 52% (11 of 21).

“They’re a very good team,” Peet said. “They just took it to us.”

In a very physical manner, too. Senior guard Angie White scored 17, but had only four field goals, and two came in the first quarter. She was nine of 11 from the free-throw line.

“They’re a good basketball team, but they’re kind of dirty,” she said. “They didn’t have much class. Every time we ran, they hit you. They were up by 20 and they were talking and pushing. You don’t have to play like that. You couldn’t run where you wanted to go.”

White conceded she let Lynwood get to her.

“Most of the reason we lost was because of me,” she said. “I couldn’t get open.”

She had an uncharacteristic 11 turnovers (of the Cougars’ 28) against Lynwood’s tenacious defense. Capistrano Valley had only two field goals in the final five minutes, and one was at the buzzer.

Turnovers hounded both teams in the first half, but Lynwood used them to its benefit, taking advantage of four turnovers in the opening three minutes of the second quarter to stretch its 14-9 lead to 20-9, as part of a 12-2 run. The lead was 15 before Capistrano Valley rallied with five points in the final 1 minute 40 seconds of the half with three Lynwood starters on the bench.

The Cougars trailed by 10 with 1 minute left in the third quarter, but a pair of steals and baskets by Tawana Grimes and Shannel Tapusoa made it 39-25.