Lynwood Girls Overwhelm Buena

Lynwood High players and coaches said they knew it was only a matter of time before their pressure defense wore down Ventura Buena.

They were correct.

Midway through the third quarter of Thursday night’s Southern Regional Division I girls’ basketball semifinal at Lynwood, Buena led by one point.

But Lynwood outscored the Bulldogs by 22 points the rest of the way to win, 59-38, and advance to the regional final on Saturday.

“We knew Buena was going to come out and play us tough for a couple of quarters,” said Timicha Kirby, who led Lynwood with 25 points. “But we knew our defense would pull us through.”

It was the second consecutive year that the Knights (31-1) defeated the Bulldogs (25-3) in the state tournament. Last season, Lynwood beat Buena in the regional final by 11 points and went on to win the state championship.

“In terms of natural athletic ability, they have much more than us,” Buena Coach Joe Vaughan said. “They should be good.”