Gondringer’s Switch Pays With Title : Division I-A girls: Guard, who transferred from La Quinta, scores 15 points in Mater Dei’s victory over Buena.

Rhonda Gondringer did something Friday that she could never have done this year at La Quinta.

She won a Southern Section title.

There she was, driving to the basket and firing away from the three-point arc, but instead of doing it for La Quinta--which didn’t win a game this year--she was in the Pyramid, wearing red and white and helping the Monarchs win for the 25th time in 26 games, 57-53, over Ventura Buena in the Division I-A championship game.

It is Mater Dei’s first girls’ basketball title.

“(Gondringer’s) another great athlete that plays very hard and is very physical,” Mater Dei Coach Mary Hauser said. “She also takes some pressure off Melody (Peterson).

“When teams try to concentrate on Melody, Gondringer’s the one that will kill you.”

Gondringer scored 15 points, going six for 12 from the field--including three for five in the second half, when Buena was outscoring Mater Dei, 31-23.

Gondringer killed Buena in the final three minutes. Holding a five-point lead, 47-42, and with Buena pounding it inside to 6-foot-1 center Nicole Greathouse (18 points), Gondringer stepped forward.

Then she let fly with a three-point basket.

That shot fell with 2 minutes 42 seconds left.

After a timeout, only 15 seconds after Mater Dei assistant coach Geri Gainey told the team to not panic in the game’s final minutes, Gondringer again stepped forward.

Her drive to the basket--through traffic--made it 52-44 with 2:00 left.

Gondringer drove the lane the next time she got the ball, too, only to be fouled. She made the first free throw, making it 53-46. Her six points in a span of 1:20 held off the Bulldogs, who beat Mater Dei in last year’s championship game and in a nonleague game in January.

It was a sweet reward for Gondringer, who said friction between her mother, Yolanda, and La Quinta Coach Tony Tubbs led her to transfer to Mater Dei.

Her sister, Donna, was one of the best players to ever wear a La Quinta uniform, and the Aztecs won a section title Donna’s freshman year.

“At La Quinta, me and my friends joked that we would get a (championship) banner,” Gondringer said. “When I came here, I knew we had a chance to get it, but I never thought it would really happen.

“I was happy at La Quinta, but I live in my mother’s house. I have to admit, I like it better here. Now we have a chance to win a State title; (La Quinta) really didn’t have a chance to do that.”