SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION III-AA GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : El Dorado Dominates La Quinta

There was no borrowed videotape.

There was no phone call to another coach.

There was no scouting report at all.

The only thing El Dorado Coach Gary Raya knew about La Quinta was what he read in the newspaper, that Linda Rodriguez was averaging 21.5 points and Rhonda Gondringer 18.5.

And with that, he told his team to concentrate on themselves, do what they did best, and have fun.

“Play hard, play together and we’ll be in the game,” he said. “When this tournament’s over, they’re only going to remember one team--Brea.”

Raya’s Hawks did that on Saturday, dominating host La Quinta, 57-39, and advancing to Wednesday’s quarterfinal against Newport Harbor. A coin flip today will determine the site.

“I think the home court is going to be a tremendous advantage in that game,” Raya said.

It wasn’t against La Quinta (19-6), which never was in sync.

El Dorado’s Kim Korsmeier and Beau Bryant hounded Gondringer and Rodriguez most of the night. La Quinta’s top scorers rarely got an open shot, and except for a 62-second span in the third quarter during which Gondringer scored six, neither controlled the game the way they had in Garden Grove League play.

Gondringer scored 13 points and had a team-high eight rebounds; Rodriguez had 14.

Korsmeier also had 11 points, but the offensive star was Shanna Renken, who scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds for El Dorado (18-7).

“We knew we had to come out strong,” Renken said. “The papers had us underrated; they all thought La Quinta was better.”

Renken made her first four field-goal attempts and had nine points before going to the bench with three fouls with 5:32 left in the second quarter. She joined Michelle de Bruijn, who picked up her third foul with 2:39 left in the first, on the bench. Missing their two best players, the Hawks had a 20-10 lead to protect. Instead, they built the lead to 29-14 at halftime, and La Quinta never got closer than 13 points.

In other Division III-AA games:

Newport Harbor 55, South Pasadena 37--Newport Harbor (20-6) outscored third-seeded South Pasadena, 24-9, in the fourth quarter. Mandy Clayton led the Sailors with 17 points and Genevieve Evarts scored 15.

Brea-Olinda 90, Fullerton 36--Nicole Erickson had 28 points, including three three-pointers, and Kiyoko Miller had 14 points to lead the top-seeded Ladycats (26-0). Brea faces Magnolia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Nadia Hoerner scored 15 for Fullerton (15-8).

Magnolia 53, Moreno Valley Rancho Verde 49--Barbara Mathews hit five of six free throws in the last minute to secure the victory for Magnolia (18-9). Whitney Torregano had 14 points and Dorretha Bennem had 16 rebounds and eight points for the Sentinels.