GIRLS’ BASKETBALL / COSTA MESA TOURNAMENT : Woodbridge Players Stay Fresh, Win Title

Woodbridge needed the rest and Coach Eric Bangs knew how to supply it as the top-ranked Warriors cruised to a 47-35 victory over Kirkland (Wash.) Lake Washington in the championship game of the Costa Mesa girls’ basketball tournament Thursday night at Costa Mesa High.

Playing their eighth game in 10 days, Bangs put the Warriors in a zone defense and rotated his players regularly enough to keep them productive and prevent the Kangaroos from making a threat.

Woodbridge (13-0) went up, 9-0, on two free throws by Krissy Duperron midway through the first quarter and kept Lake Washington in check the rest of the game.

The Warriors took their biggest lead in the third quarter when Erin Stovall made one of two free throws for a 35-18 lead.

However, Woodbridge seemed to run out of gas late in the third quarter after Stovall’s layup made the score 37-22.

“We had a lot of tough-luck shots that wouldn’t drop,” Bangs said. “We were stuck on 37 for a while.”

Stovall finally broke the drought when she made two free throws with 4:01 remaining to give the Warriors a 39-26 lead.

Lake Washington cut the lead to 41-33 on a three-point play by Meghan Geddes, but Duperron scored four points down the stretch to halt the comeback.

Stovall led the Warriors with a game-high 14 points and Duperron scored 11 despite playing on a sore ankle.

Angela Burgess was held to six points and was shut out in the second half, but the 6-foot-4 center contributed 11 rebounds.

Sarah Yarborough, who scored 21 in the Kangaroos’ semifinal victory over Costa Mesa, was held to four second-half points.

Point guard Kelly Middlesworth led Lake Washington with 10 points and Geddes had eight.

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In the third-place game:

Costa Mesa 54, Huntington Beach 47--Center Corri Lurmann’s 18 points and nine rebounds helped Costa Mesa in the third-place victory. Erin Brown had 12 points, including two three-pointers.