Banning Uses a Big Second Half to Beat Gardena for 3-A Girls’ Title

Jenille Ramos scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead Wilmington Banning to a 47-32 victory over Gardena in the City Section Division 3-A girls’ basketball championship game at the Sports Arena Friday.

Banning led, 19-18, at halftime and increased the margin to 28-24 after three quarters behind Ramos’ seven third-quarter points.

A minute into the fourth quarter, Ramos scored on a fast-break layup and a three-point basket to give Banning (16-11) a commanding 33-24 lead. Gardena (17-7) never recovered.

“We came out nervous--we’ve never been in a place like this--but we got to halftime and I said, ‘OK, we got the jitters out, now we can get it going,’ ” Banning Coach David DeLaby said.

Gardena never got its offense going in the second half, in part because of Banning’s pressure defense.

“It was Gardena’s first time in the finals for either boys’ or girls’ basketball,” Gardena Coach Cheryl Nakata said. “So we’re proud regardless.”

Tiwana McCullum led the Mohicans with 12 points.