SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREP BASKETBALL REGIONAL PLAYOFFS : GIRLS : Division II

Ventura vs. Brea-Olinda

SITE--Brea-Olinda High School, 7:30 p.m.

RECORDS--Brea-Olinda (28-2), Ventura (23-5).

VENTURA--Ventura Coach Glenn Gray dropped four seniors, including a starter, from the team the night before Ventura opened the playoffs against Mira Costa, when the players skipped a game to attend a school dance. Ventura made it to the section finals without them, but Gray promoted sophomores Jennifer Dietz and Leighann Nishy from junior varsity. Sophomore forward-guard Ember Brown (5-8) is averaging 18 points and five rebounds.

BREA-OLINDA--Nicole Erickson still leads Brea-Olinda in scoring (22-point average), but she is by no means a one-woman show. Colleen Hudson finished the regular season with a scoring 15.7 average, which she improved to 17 during playoffs. Brea-Olinda hasn’t lost since Jan. 8.

KEY TO THE GAME--Ventura will have to all but eliminate the 26 turnovers it had in its 49-29 Division II-A Southern Section loss to Hacienda Heights Wilson and score more than the nine second-half points it had in the section final. Brea-Olinda needs to stay the course and not look ahead to the state final in Oakland.

CONSENSUS--Gray said his team will use this as a learning experience. Unless Brea-Olinda, which breezed through the section playoffs averaging a 37.3-point margin of victory, self destructs, the Cougars will be lucky to come that close.