GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Finally Rises to Challenge by Beating Fountain Valley

The close games have been few, and when Mater Dei has played them in the past, it always seemed the Monarchs came up short.

But in Thursday’s semifinal at the Marina tournament, the third-ranked Monarchs got a test of character--trailing in the fourth quarter--and emerged with a 77-63 victory over No. 6 Fountain Valley.

Melody Peterson did the most damage for the Monarchs, scoring 35 points--including 19 in the second quarter; she was two short of Leticia Oseguera’s 1993-94 single-game school record.

Mater Dei (8-0) plays fifth-ranked Marina at 8 tonight in the title game.

Fountain Valley (9-5) trailed by nine at halftime, 43-34, but led by as many as five in the third quarter. Jen Rizzo’s 15-footer with 6 minutes 2 seconds left gave the Barons a 61-60 fourth-quarter lead, but it was their last basket until 24 seconds remained.

“Last year, the kids never won any big games; all the close games, we’d lose,” Mater Dei Coach Mary Hauser said. “This group, they know they have a chance to win. . . . Now they don’t get nervous. Our kids didn’t panic (in the fourth quarter), they stayed calm--that was the difference.”

After shooting five of 16 from the floor in the third quarter to lose the lead, Mater Dei responded in the fourth, making 11 of its final 14 shots; Rhonda Gondringer scored eight of her 12 points in the final 5:06.

Margaret Hollis added 17 points.

Fountain Valley got 21 points from Jennifer Ludwicki and 15 from Nicole Strange, but neither scored in the fourth, shooting a combined zero for seven.

“(The blowouts) are great for the other (reserve) players, but I would rather win a close game to get ready for Brea Olinda, (Ventura) Buena and (Mission Hills) Alemany,” said Peterson, whose team plays those three powers in January.

In other tournament games:

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Marina 58, Redmond (Wash.) Eastlake 47--Marina (11-1) beat Eastlake (6-1), ranked ninth in Washington state, behind Shandy Robbins’ 21 points and eight rebounds, and Kirsten Cappel’s 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Newport Harbor 57, El Dorado 53--Andree Verhulst’s two fourth-quarter three-point baskets helped No. 4 Newport Harbor (9-1) overcome a five-point deficit with 4:30 left.

Verhulst finished with 13 points--all in the second half; Mandy Clayton also had 13 points. Newport was eight of eight from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter after falling behind, 44-39. Seventh-ranked El Dorado (7-3) got 18 points from Shanna Renken and 16 from Beau Bryant.

Ocean View 64, Rancho Bernardo 56--Ocean View (7-6) got 21 points from Jennifer Tuiolosega and held off Rancho Bernardo (8-4), San Diego County’s third-ranked team. Andrea Tuiolosega had 12 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.

In the Santiago Cavalier Classic:

Corona del Mar 58, Santiago 21--Lindsay Warmington had 17 points and Jennifer Gardner added 15 for Corona del Mar (6-7). Angie Ching-Sam had 13 points for Santiago (4-8). Corona del Mar plays Edison in the championship.

Edison 68, Fullerton 45--Marie Philman had 20 points and eight steals for No. 9 Edison (10-2).

Pacifica 52, El Modena 33--Holly Pawlowski scored 13 points for Pacifica (2-9).

Canyon 70, Sonora 64--Aiyana Nash’s career-high 47 for Sonora (2-8) was overshadowed by Robynn Kuhlmann’s 32 points and Unelda Sweet’s school-record 30 rebounds for Canyon (8-6).

In the Garden Grove tournament:

Kennedy 48, El Toro 42--Karin Kitagawa scored 20 points for Kennedy (8-5) in the championship.

Garden Grove 56, Villa Park 46--Janine Shaw scored a game-high 19 points for third-place Garden Grove (4-6). Villa Park is 7-5.

Magnolia 50, Paramount 38--Andrea Picchi had 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Sentinels (9-3) in the consolation final.

In the Laguna Beach tournament:

Trabuco Hills 56, Century 49--Tournament most valuable player LaShieka Henderson scored 19 points, Dyanna Hatch 18 and Sarah Warnick 15 for Trabuco Hills (12-3). Century (7-4) got 20 points from Addie Alexander, who had six three-pointers.

Laguna Hills 37, Calvary Chapel 24--Brandy Estelle had 11 points to lead third-place Laguna Hills (10-3); Whitney Hoover had eight for Calvary Chapel (3-8).

In the Santa Maria Righetti tournament:

University 68, Carpenteria 48--Natasha Combs scored 16 points and Heather Snavely scored 14 for University (8-2) in pool play.

In the Savanna tournament:

Santa Ana 47, La Mirada 28--Tanzenika Holmes scored a game-high 20 points to lead Santa Ana (8-5) into tonight’s championship game against Redondo Beach Redondo Union.

Redondo Union 40, La Habra 33--Brook Koehler scored 13 points for La Habra (7-4).

Los Alamitos 54, Los Amigos 39--Los Alamitos (6-7) got 11 points from Katie Ensley and 10 from her sister, Amy. Los Amigos (3-6) got 15 points from Carmela Zavala.