CENTURY LEAGUE GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Villa Park Defeats Canyon for Second Consecutive Title

Michelle Miyake saw the ball’s trajectory. Most of the time, she knows when she’s on the money. This time, she didn’t. She had made only one of 15 shots to that point. She had her doubts all the way.

But Miyake’s three-point shot was true, giving Villa Park a three-point lead with 1 minute 22 seconds left, and helped the Spartans (21-3, 9-1) to their second consecutive Century League title and third in 34 years.

Villa Park’s 51-48 victory against Canyon (14-9, 7-3) didn’t come without controversy and a clutch performance.

The latter came from Maureen Skehan, who had 21 points, seven rebounds and six steals. She did most of her damage in the second half after sitting out half the second quarter with three fouls.

“She was definitely the difference,” Canyon Coach Nelson Herrera said. “She had a lot of poise with three fouls.”

Skehan had 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals--each leading to a layup for her--in the second half.

Foul trouble plagued both teams, and Villa Park’s 25% shooting (13 of 52) through three quarters set the stage for a dramatic finish. Skehan’s second consecutive steal and layup gave the Spartans a 34-33 lead with 31 seconds left in the third quarter; they had held a 20-12 lead in the second before going six minutes without a field goal. There were eight ties or lead changes in the fourth quarter, the final coming when Miyake’s three-pointer made it 47-44.

Trailing 47-46 with 1:01 to go, the timekeeper errantly ran 12 seconds off the clock after Villa Park’s inbounds pass was knocked out of bounds.

It was 12 seconds the home team needed after pulling within three points at the buzzer.

“I was asking the ref about it but he just waved me off,” Herrera said. “I can’t control that. We wanted a timeout and to put on the full-court press. We just ran out of time. You’ve got to give Villa Park credit; they came in here and won the game outright.”

In other league games:

El Modena 48, Foothill 33--Norah Mariner had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Jamie Shine added 13 points and 13 rebounds to lead El Modena (11-10, 7-3). Katy Steinle scored 10 points for Foothill.

Santa Ana Valley 57, Orange 45--Velina Gibson had 19 points and Marie Pulu had 15 points and 16 rebounds for Santa Ana Valley (8-14, 4-6). Anita Brown had 13 for Orange (4-17, 1-9).