DIVISION II-AA GIRLS’ BASKETBALL : Huntington Beach Trips Up University
Bob Bernal walked around the Southern Section office earlier this week with that stupefied look, the one that says, “Why me?”
The University coach knew he had drawn probably the toughest first-round opponent of any league champion. Huntington Beach was a fifth-place team--from the Sunset League--and had only a 14-11 record. On paper, the Oilers didn’t look so mighty.
But Bernal knew better.
Huntington Beach had beaten two of Orange County’s top 10 teams the previous two weeks, and the Oilers--with no one standing taller than 5 feet 8 inches--played giant killer again.,
In the first round of Wednesday’s Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs, Huntington Beach scored a 67-54 victory over host University.
Huntington Beach plays Mission Viejo, a 46-31 winner over El Monte Arroyo, on Saturday; a coin flip will determine the home team.
Both coaches knew they were in a good spot to advance deep into the playoffs if they could just get past the first round. Nick Bartlett gets to try.
“Not to take anything away from University, which won the second-toughest league in Orange County in my opinion, but we go into every game thinking we can play with anybody,” Bartlett said. “When we picked up the brackets on Monday, we liked what we saw--as long as we don’t face another Sunset League team.”
That’s because the Sunset League is the toughest league in the county. And Huntington Beach (15-11) took its lumps before winning three of its final four. It was a victory over Marina, in particular, that helped the team get mentally and emotionally ready for the playoffs, said Oiler guard Mindi Adam.
“We were losing games and losing our confidence,” Adam said. “We were playing well, we just weren’t winning.”
The Oilers played well and won against University (18-7). They were led by the play of Adam, a four-year varsity player who scored a career-high 25 points, including four three-point baskets; she also had six of the Oilers’ 20 steals.
In all, University committed 26 turnovers, giving away its 46-20 rebounding edge; the Trojans shot 52% from the field in the first half (14 for 27), 40% for the game (20 for 50).
Monique Mathews led University with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Oiler scoring was balanced: Phouangmaly Pravongviengkham scored 14, and Renee Kimoto and Juliano Castro each had 11.
University’s opponents this season averaged only 41 points, and Huntington Beach had a 40-33 halftime lead.
Huntington Beach missed its first four shots of the third quarter, but University could only reduce the deficit by two--then Adam hit a three-pointer and scored nine of the Oilers’ 11 points as Huntington Beach took a 51-40 lead into the final quarter.
Huntington Beach was 28 for 62 from the field (45%); the Oilers were six for 20 from the three-point line.
Both teams started quickly; the score was tied or the lead changed hands 12 times in the first quarter. Kelly Ziegler’s basket underneath gave Huntington Beach the last lead change, 21-20.
Bernal was understandably disappointed.
“If we had an easy draw, we probably would have ended up playing them in the second round,” he said. “We played a pretty good fifth-place team tonight.”
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In other Division II-AA games:
Garden Grove 65, Riverside Arlington 37--Janine Shaw had 13 points, Amanda Hall had 12 points, Natalee Paterson 11 and Gina Huizar had eight points and 10 rebounds for host Garden Grove (15-8). The Argonauts will face Ocean View Saturday in the second round.
Whittier La Serna 52, Capistrano Valley 49--Capistrano Valley ended its season 11-15.
Marina 69, Pasadena 37--Sonya Bryant had 18 points and Shandy Robbins added 16 for host Marina (19-6). Freshman Natalie Nakase had a career-high nine assists for the Vikings.
Mission Viejo 46, El Monte Arroyo 31--After scoring only two points in the second quarter, Mission Viejo outscored Arroyo, 31-14, in the second half. Kortney Okura had 26 points and Shelley Higham added nine points and 11 assists for Mission Viejo (13-11), which plays Huntington Beach Saturday.
Ocean View 60, Beverly Hills 27--Jennifer Tuiolosega scored 28 points, including three three-pointers, and Becky Fraser added 12 points as host Ocean View (20-7) won its 13th straight, matching the 1988-89 school record. The Seahawks play Garden Grove Saturday.
Rosemead 54, Santiago 51--Mai Huynh’s three-point basket pulled Santiago (12-14) within three points with 16 seconds left, but Rosemead (13-7) held on. Erika Adaka had 16 points for Santiago.
San Clemente 63, Whittier 34--Kelly Grant scored 10 points and Emily Ela and Amanda Engle each had nine points for host San Clemente (17-10). The Tritons will play Marina Saturday.
Westminster 70, Cerritos Gahr 68--Amber Farroux, who made eight of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with 33 points and 20 rebounds, gave Westminster (16-10) the lead for good with 1 1/2 minutes left. The Lions play Moreno Valley on Saturday.