SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Aztecs Make the Grade in 57-43 Victory

The Southern Section playoffs are not always about winning championships. Sometimes it’s about getting an education, about how to take the next step from average to elite.

Wednesday, Santa Ana Valley found out how difficult the lessons can be, getting worked over by Esperanza, 57-43, in a Division I-AA girls’ basketball game at Santa Ana Valley. The Aztecs (18-8) advanced to play Montebello Schurr on Saturday.

The Falcons (16-8) were shown the exit door for several reasons.

Start with 23 turnovers, many of them the result of poor passes. Esperanza also controlled the rebounds, 34-25.

And three or four solid players can normally beat a pair of stars--especially if only one of the stars is on.

Senior guard Valina Gibson led all scorers with 19 points, but she had to work extra hard for every shot. Her compliment, sophomore center Ally Napier who averages 13.6 points, managed only eight against the Aztecs’ aggressive tactics.

But while Napier was struggling, Gibson--the county leader in assists (8.2)--was not able to get the other Falcons actively involved in the offense. She finished with six assists for the game.

Still, Aztec Coach Marc Hill wasn’t completely satisfied with his team’s outing.

“I was kind of disappointed with our intensity,” he said. “We started kind of slow in the first half, but going to the man-to-man got the tempo up. We had to control the boards to be able to run the break and we did that. And I am happy overall with the win.”

Esperanza allowed Gibson to score the game’s first five points, but took the lead for good at the end of the first quarter, 12-10. They spent the rest of the game expanding the lead--the biggest was 55-35 late in the fourth quarter before Hill started clearing his bench.

Esperanza had little difficulty with Santa Ana Valley’s press, and guard Kim Hayashi was the biggest beneficiary, scoring 13 points. Forward Lindsay Foss added 10 points and guard Monique Toney had nine.

Falcon Coach Kevin Stipp, whose season has been difficult enough coaching the girls’ and boys’ teams--saw Santa Ana Valley’s season slipping away when the Aztecs broke off a 9-2 run with less than three minutes gone in the third quarter to open a 42-25 lead.

But, playing with a team that consists mainly of sophomores and juniors, Stipp knew there was little he or the Falcons could do about it.

“Esperanza was very well prepared,” Stipp said. “They showed why they were ranked 10th in the county.”