Brea Hammers Scripps Ranch : Division III: The Ladycats continue their title march with a 75-43 victory.

San Diego Scripps Ranch got all the breaks in its Southern California Division III Regional game against Brea-Olinda.

The Brea crowd was small by big-game standards and wasn’t nearly as intimidating as it could have been.

Colleen Hudson was out because of the flu.

And then came the tip-off.

“We were in the game for four minutes,” Scripps Ranch Coach Danny Regas said.

Brea scored the game’s first eight points, pressed the Falcons into 11 first-half turnovers and scored a 75-43 victory in front of about 700.

On Thursday, the Ladycats play host to San Luis Obispo, a 60-49 winner over Lemoore.

Brea scored the game’s first eight points and had a 20-3 first quarter lead. Scripps Ranch (20-6) was one of 12 from the field in the first quarter and one of 12 in the second. Scripps Ranch trailed at halftime, 47-14, getting 10 of their points from the free-throw line.

Alissa Murphy, Scripps Ranch’s 30-point-a-night star, had seven at halftime; she finished with a game-high 27, but only because the Ladycats took the press off in the second half and kind of evened things up.

Unbeaten Brea reached 30 victories for the sixth consecutive season. The Ladycats played without its second-leading scorer, Hudson, because she had the flu. Coach John Hattrup kept her out and said Lee Moulin (eight points) and Lauri Jordan (four points) are also battling the bug. Jordan started in place of Hudson.

“ Now we get sick,” Hattrup said sarcastically.

That might be the only way Brea can get bumped out of the State tournament. The Ladycats have won three straight State titles and are ranked second nationally by USA Today.

“Their first and second strings should probably be playing for the State championship,” Regas said. “I don’t mean to be uncomplimentary to any team, including mine, but they’re strong.

“I can see why they’re the three-time State champion. I don’t think too many teams can come close to them. Not in Division III.”

Nicole Erickson scored 20 points and Sarah Beckley had 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Ladycats also got plenty from their bench: Dawn Metz had nine points and Jennifer Saari had seven.

“This is the tough game to get them prepared for,” Hattrup said. “They’re coming off the emotional high from the Section championship and we haven’t had a lot of time to prepare for this game.”