Costa Mesa Beats the Odds--and Morningside : Division III girls: Facing height deficit, strong press and tradition, Mustangs upset top-seeded Monarchs, 49-46.

They can break the press.

They can handle the height.

They can overcome tradition.

And now they can book a flight to Oakland.

Costa Mesa, making its first appearance in the Southern California Championships, won its first Division III girls’ basketball title with a 49-46 victory Saturday over Inglewood Morningside at the Sports Arena.

The Mustangs (29-4) overcame Morningside’s legacy--it had won four of the previous five titles and two state championships--with a collapsing defense and plenty of body English.

They will play Sacramento St. Francis, a 52-47 winner over Chico Pleasant Valley, Saturday in Oakland for the State title.

Despite a height disadvantage at each starting position, Costa Mesa beat the physical Monarchs (28-3) at their own game.

“In a way, we’re fearless,” Costa Mesa’s Olivia DiCamilli said. “We don’t let what others think bother us. We want to prove that the team that plays with heart, not hype, can win.”

So the Mustangs pushed, shoved, hustled, dived, blocked out and got their hands up. They did everything Coach Lisa McNamee could ask of them. And when it was over, Costa Mesa had a 51-50 rebounding edge and a victory--despite shooting only 29.5% (18 of 61)--over one of the state’s strongest programs.

“Their plan was to collapse on our inside people every time they get the ball,” Morningside Coach Roderick Tatum said. “We got beat--I don’t think we got out-hustled.”

Tatum got a major dose of what other playoff teams have only tasted. He expected DiCamilli would turn in a strong performance, and she scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The performance of the rest of the Mustangs--including 14 rebounds by Jessica Lurmann and 11 by 5-foot-7 guard Yool Kim, who also had seven steals--is what Tatum hadn’t counted on.

“We were going to try to hold the other girls down,” he said.

Instead, it was Costa Mesa that held down Morningside’s prolific scorers.

Although Tina Thompson, who has signed to play at USC next year, scored 19 points, Cha-Ron Walker scored only eight and didn’t make a basket until 1 minute 54 seconds was left in the third quarter. By then, Costa Mesa held a 34-27 lead.

Morningside shot 28.8% (19 of 66) for the game.

The Mustangs had no problem with Morningside’s press, which it changed from a 1-2-1-1 to a 2-2-1 because Tatum thought his team had been scouted. McNamee said Costa Mesa did nothing different to break the press, except making bounce passes under defenders instead of trying to throw over them.

Costa Mesa was tentative throughout the first quarter, trailing, 9-7, and fell behind, 16-9, less than three minutes into the second. But a 14-6 scoring run, sparked by the play of Kim and Neiar Kabua, gave Costa Mesa a 23-20 halftime lead.

Kim had four rebounds and three steals in the quarter. Kabua, who had a standout defensive game, scored five points, including a three-point play and a 15-foot shot from the corner to tie the game, 18-18.

Lurmann made a free throw and Kameisha Prewitt’s basket gave Morningside a 20-19 lead--its last, with 1:15 remaining--before DiCamilli made four of six from the free-throw line.

The lead stretched to seven after Kabua and DiCamilli scored to open the third quarter, but it narrowed to 38-36 entering the fourth quarter.

Thompson scored to tie the game, DiCamilli --answered, and then Walker’s free throws tied the game again, 40-40.

But Kim drove through the defense and scored on a layup, Heather Robinson scored off a rebound, and DiCamilli added a three-point play on a drive from the left side. It was 47-40 with 2:26 remaining.

“I never really felt we were up the whole game until I looked up at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter and we were up by seven,” DiCamilli said. “I thought, ‘Just stick this out a few more minutes, and we can win.’ ”

They did, adding a free throw by DiCamilli and another by Robinson with a minute left.

Thompson had a chance for a three-point play with 40 seconds left, but missed the free throw. Lurmann, who scored only one point, pulled down the rebound. DiCamilli dribbled most of the time off the clock before finally shooting with 11 seconds to go. Thompson got the rebound and threw an outlet to Prewitt.

DiCamilli hustled back on defense as Prewitt set up for her ninth three-point shot, then backed off. Instead, Kabua rushed to the defense and got a hand in Prewitt’s face. The off-balance shot went long as the buzzer sounded.