TONIGHT’S SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PREP BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS : GIRLS : Division II

Brea-Olinda vs. Carlsbad

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

RECORDS--Brea-Olinda (29-2), Carlsbad (24-3).

CARLSBAD--Senior center Vanessa Nygaard (6-1), who is headed for Stanford, was named fourth team Parade Magazine All-American last week. She had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the Lancers’ 74-58 victory over Bakersfield South Tuesday. Point guard Renee Demirdjian (5-11) and center Holly Gerdes (6-0) are averaging 12 and 11 points. Nygaard, Demirdjian and Gerdes are four-year starters. Besides its San Diego Section Division II final loss, Carlsbad’s two losses in December were without Nygaard, who was out with a broken ankle.

BREA-OLINDA--The Ladycats held a 41-point lead at the half as they steamrolled Ventura in their Southern California playoff opener, the kind of game that doesn’t prepare a team for a State championship appearance. The performance of Brea-Olinda’s Nicole Erickson--eight of 12 shooting, 24 points, five three-pointers--was just shy of spectacular. Erickson’s supporting cast seemed to suffer stage fright without her leadership, but a tougher opponent should cure that, should Erickson ever be off the court again. Colleen Hudson and Lee Moulin scored in double figures Tuesday.

KEY TO THE GAME--If experience has anything to do with it, and it usually does, no one has more of it than Brea-Olinda. The Ladycats are two steps from their fifth consecutive State title appearance. Carlsbad has yet to prove itself in the big game. The 1992 San Diego Section Division II champion was upset by University City in its third consecutive trip to the section finals and lost to Mission Hills Alemany in the second round of the Southern California regionals last year. Ventura’s 2-3 zone didn’t work against Erickson; Carlsbad will need a better plan.

CONSENSUS--Carlsbad is no Ventura, but while the Ladycats are much better than Trakh likes to admit publicly, they can’t play the way they did in the second half Tuesday night and expect the victory on a silver platter.