Brea Olinda’s Streak Stopped by Woodbridge : Girls’ basketball: Warriors win, 51-33, to take Tournament of Champions title and end Ladycats’ string at 65.

Orange County girls’ basketball has long been colored by the green uniforms of Brea Olinda.

Friday night, in the appropriately named Tournament of Champions, Woodbridge administered a dye job.

The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in the county this season but long the bridesmaid to Brea in recognition and reputation, scored a 51-33 victory over the Ladycats at Santa Barbara High.

Behind the play of Angela Burgess, Woodbridge’s 6-foot-4 senior, the Warriors were able make a bit of history by stopping Brea’s winning streak at 65 games. Burgess finished with 23 points, but had 17 at halftime--which was the exact margin of Woodbridge’s lead, 29-12.

The Warriors (9-0) whipped passes to Burgess from every angle, and she responded--making eight of 14 against defenders Dawn Metz (6-1) and Stephanie Wettlin (5-11).

“They were well-coached and obviously the better ball team tonight,” Brea Coach Jeff Sink said. “We were overmatched inside--we played hard to the buzzer--but their inside game was truly devastating.”

Brea (11-1) outrebounded Woodbridge, 11-8, in the first quarter, but was unable to keep it up; offensive rebounds were rare, and the Warriors finished with a 35-30 rebounding edge.

“This was the best thing that’s happened to me all year,” said Burgess, whose previous high game this season was 18 points. “I wanted to play Brea ever since my (sophomore) year when we played them and lost (61-28).

“We were hoping they would beat (Atherton) Sacred Heart and (Fresno) Clovis West. They’re a great team and we wanted to see how we matched up to them.”

Brea, ranked No. 2 in the county after losing three starters who helped the Ladycats to four consecutive State titles, made their case for No. 1 earlier this week, beating teams on consecutive nights ranked sixth and seventh in a national poll.

The end didn’t come against a national power or in a State title game, but against another county team that was too tall, too deep and too talented.

Brea had a 7-4 lead early, but Burgess’ basket underneath tied the score, 9-9. Melanie Pearson’s 15-footer gave Woodbridge the lead for good.

Brea committed seven second-quarter turnovers to dig its hole. The Ladycats cut the lead to seven, 38-31, with 4:20 left in the game. Then Burgess scored inside--and Brea scored only one more basket.

Pearson had nine points and eight rebounds and Erin Stovall had eight points for Woodbridge. Brea got eight points from Kiyoko Miller and seven from Jennifer Saari. The Ladycats made only 12 of 44 (27%) from the floor; Woodbridge made 22 of 48 (46%).

“If you have to pick one game to win, this is not the game you bet the ranch on,” Sink said. “Don’t get me wrong--we wanted to win in the worst way--but the one to win is in March.”

Brea and Woodbridge could meet again in the Southern California Regionals.

It is Brea’s first loss to an Orange County team since March 3, 1987--when Katella beat the Ladycats, 59-56, in overtime, the Southern Section Division 3-A semifinals.

Woodbridge’s victory also snapped the Southern Section’s second-longest winning streak. It began Jan. 9, 1993, with an 81-72 victory over Fair Oaks Del Campo in the Orange County Challenge; believe it or not, Brea had lost its two previous games, first to Thousand Oaks, 59-51, in the championship of the Tournament of Champions, and then to Orem (Utah) Mountain View, 59-46, in the first round of the OC Challenge.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Streak Ends

The Brea Olinda girls’ basketball team’s 65-game streak, longest in county history, which ended Friday with a 51-33 loss to Woodbridge at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions:

*

1992-93 Orange County Challenge 81 Fair Oaks Del Campo 72

87 Western 33

81 Valencia 32

79 La Habra 32

79 Anaheim 11

88 Savanna 38

98 Magnolia 25

94 Western 39

91 Long Beach Millikan 44

87 Valencia 26

113 Anaheim 26

77 Savanna 27

72 Magnolia 18

*

Southern Section Division II-AA 72 Ocean View 36

85 Burbank Burroughs 36

76 Hemet 48

75 Cerritos Gahr 39

*

Division II Regional 77 Ventura 41

64 Carlsbad 55

45 San Diego University City 39

*

Division II State Championship 42 Fair Oaks Bella Vista 41

1993-94 Etiwanda Tournament 83 Claremont 12

86 Ridgecrest Burroughs 30

77 Etiwanda 34

55 Lynwood 40

*

Brea-Olinda Ladycat Classic 98 Pasadena 27

85 Rancho Cucamonga 33

76 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 34

65 Cerritos Gahr 38

*

Service (Alaska) Invitational 73 Palmer Colony (Alaska) 54

65 Garfield (Ohio) Trinity 55

63 Lake Oswego (Ore.) Lakeridge 54

72 Magnolia 15

84 El Dorado 37

101 Anaheim 19

111 Western 35

72 Capistrano Valley 31

75 Valencia 25

87 Savanna 18

65 Mater Dei 49

90 Magnolia 20

112 Anaheim 23

120 Western 17

75 Ontario 43

81 Valencia 25

110 Savanna 16

*

Southern Section Division III-AA 90 Fullerton 36

85 Magnolia 15

65 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 36

70 Newport Harbor 40

*

Division III Regional 75 San Diego Scripps Ranch 43

86 San Luis Obispo 33

67 Newport Harbor 39

*

Division III State Championship 54 San Jose Archbishop Mitty 44

1994-95 Rancho Grande Tournament 137 Ontario Chaffey 10

94 Upland 26

65 Victorville Victor Valley 29

57 Lynwood 32

*

Brea-Olinda Ladycat Classic 88 Rancho Alamitos 8

88 Fullerton 28

78 Esperanza 44

64 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 42

*

Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions 59 Long Beach Millikan 26

57 Atherton Sacred Heart 56

55 Fresno Clovis West 40