HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Lynwood Keeps Division I-AA Title

Lynwood, ranked No. 2 by The Times, retained its Southern Section Division I-AA championship by defeating Palos Verdes Peninsula, 53-46, at Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday night.

Lynwood (29-1), whose only loss is to Brea-Olinda, is also the defending state Division I champion.

Peninsula (24-4), which defeated Lynwood in the 1992 section title game, rallied to overcome a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and led by one point with two minutes to play.

But Knight guard Tawana Grimes scored five consecutive points to seal the victory.

Senior forward Tamicha Kirby led all scorers with 22 points, and Grimes added 13.

No. 3 Mission Hills Alemany 49, No. 9 San Bernardino 46--Alemany kept its perfect season intact--barely.

The third-ranked Indians (28-0) had to weather a 26-point second-half outburst by San Bernardino guard LaTonya Kindle, but they held on in the Division II-A championship at Cal Poly Pomona.

Kindle made a three-pointer to give the Cardinals (25-5) a three-point lead with less than three minutes to play.

But Alemany regrouped and scored the game’s final six points.

Kindle scored a game-high 34 points and had eight steals.

No. 5 Irvine Woodbridge 59, No. 15 Hemet 47--Melanie Pearson scored four of her game-high 16 points during a 10-1 run at the end of the third quarter to lead Woodbridge (29-0) to the Division II-AA championship at Cal Poly Pomona.

Hemet led, 37-36, midway through the third, but the Warriors took control.

No. 12 Cerritos Valley Christian 79, Sun Valley Village Christian 64--Center Jodi Parriott scored a game-high 45 points to lead Valley Christian to the Division IV-A championship.

The Lady Crusaders (25-2) jumped to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter en route to their third consecutive section title.

Village Christian (25-2) could draw no closer than 10 points after that. Lindy James led Village Christian with 33 points.

Valley Christian forward Cindy Dykstra fell, hit her head and briefly lost consciousness near the end of the game. She was taken to a nearby hospital as a precautionary measure.