GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : El Dorado Regroups to Beat Rosary

The last words out of his mouth before being slapped with his second technical in a 10-second span were, “You’re atrocious.”

And though El Dorado Coach Gary Raya was giving his mind to officials, he could have just as easily been describing his team’s play. The Hawks trailed by 15 after Rosary’s Kathleen Celio (21 points, 19 rebounds) made three of four technical shots with 4 minutes 38 seconds left in the first half. But it would be another 14 minutes before Celio and the Royals would again gain some semblance of control.

With a little luck, some timely defense and a stirring performance by Michelle de Bruijn, El Dorado, ranked 10th in Orange County, came back for a 50-47 victory over host Rosary (5-1) Tuesday night.

The technicals seemed to shake some life into the Hawks’ offense; they outscored Rosary, 12-3, the rest of the half.

Just 1:15 into the third quarter, Kim Korsmeier tied the score at 26, and de Bruijn gave El Dorado (6-1) the lead for good after pulling down one of eight rebounds.

De Bruijn (19 points) was phenomenal during the stretch, in which El Dorado increased its lead to 38-30. She had 17 points, two rebounds, two steals and a block in the second and third quarters despite playing the entire time with three fouls. And Rosary--missing two starters--couldn’t make a basket.

“Our defense kept us in it,” de Bruijn said. “The technical fouls gave us time to think about it and made us want (the game) even more.”

Rosary pulled itself together with 6 1/2 minutes left. The Royals cut the lead from 46-38 to 46-45 with 3:00 to go, but Korsmeier (six points) drove strong to the basket and freshman Jamie Nebecker made both ends of a one-and-one with 55.2 seconds left to make it 50-46.