HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Crenshaw Tops Roosevelt in OT

Shannon Burton scored five points and Kimberly Howse added four in the second overtime to give Crenshaw High a 75-68 victory over Roosevelt in the City Division 4-A championship Friday at the Sports Arena.

Howse, who also scored four points in the first overtime, finished with a team-high 19 points as Crenshaw (22-5) won its second consecutive City title. The Cougars defeated North Hollywood in last year’s championship game.

“We play a lot of games when we started off rough,” said Howse, a six-foot senior. “But once it gets into the second half, it’s all over. We could have gone into five overtimes, we weren’t going to lose.”

Roosevelt (21-2) had sent the game into overtime by outscoring the Cougars, 10-1, in the final three minutes of regulation, with Zenobia Tyson-Hunt scoring on a turnaround jump shot to tie the score, 60-60.

In the first overtime, Crenshaw held a 65-63 lead with five seconds remaining before Roosevelt’s Denise Caudillo tied the score with a layup at the buzzer. Caudillo, a three-time all-city performer, finished with a game-high 30 points.