ORANGE COUNTY ALL-STAR BASKETBALL GAMES / GIRLS : Costa Mesa’s DiCamilli Leads South to Victory

COSTA MESA — Olivia DiCamilli considered what her final high school game might be like, and she couldn’t have scripted it any better.

The Costa Mesa standout--playing in front of a large hometown rooting section and a Kiwanis Club hosting its 16th Orange County All-Star basketball game, scored 26 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, had four steals and two assists to lead the South to a record-breaking 114-95 victory Saturday at Orange Coast College.

The South broke the 1990 record for points scored (95) and the teams’ combined 209 points bettered 1983’s 90-85 South victory.

“I pretty much had envisioned a great game,” DiCamilli said. “I thought about it, but I didn’t want to play the game over and over in my mind and try to do too much.”

What she did was just right. DiCamilli, bound for San Diego State, scored 11 points in the game’s first 10 minutes to help the South to a 25-21 lead. She came back in the second half and helped finish the onslaught as the South extended the lead at one point to 26 points.

She was selected the game’s outstanding player, capping a year in which she led Costa Mesa to the Southern Section Division III-A title and an appearance in the State championship game.

“Olivia DiCamilli does everything a coach wants a player to do, offensively and defensively,” said South Coach Shannon Jakosky of Newport Harbor.

DiCamilli wasn’t the game’s leading scorer though. Rancho Alamitos’ Timerie James led the North with 28 points--tied for second-best in the game’s history--and helped the team take its only lead, 31-30, with 8:13 left in the first half. But Huntington Beach’s Clare Walker (16 points, six rebounds) scored six straight points and the South never got closer than five points.

“(Walker) hit some big baskets when the game was on the line,” said losing Coach Gary Raya of El Dorado.

Walker also played an instrumental role in the 15-4 run to open the second half that put the game away. It was 60-50 at halftime.

Mollie Flint (Corona del Mar) had 13 points for the South. The only other North players to break into double figures were Santiago’s America Robledo (16), El Dorado’s Jody Caruso (10) and Troy’s Brandee Richardson (10).