Alemany Just Too Tall for Torrey Pines, 85-59

Using their decided height advantage, Alemany High gained a sizable lead in the first quarter and never looked back on the way to an 85-59 victory over Torrey Pines Tuesday night in the first round of the Southern California Regional championships.

The Indians (25-5) advanced to Thursday night’s semifinals against Brea-Olinda.

Of the 12 Alemany players that saw court time, five scored in double figures, led by Kelly McKay’s 19 points.

Alemany’s 6-foot-4 center Carly Funicello got the Indians rolling by scoring eight of her 16 points in the first quarter.

“That’s the best big girl we’ve faced all year,” Falcons’ Coach Ken Baumann said.

Torrey Pines (26-7) came out in a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second quarter, neutralizing Funicello, but McKay and Francine Bennette scored six points apiece, and the Indians built a 46-32 lead at halftime.

“When you have a 6-4 center that can play you have to get her the ball,” Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy said. “We definitely stressed that tonight. We tried to run a little more, too, and we got some steals that led to easy buckets. That might have been the difference.”

Alemany had 11 steals in the first half and ended with 18.

Any hopes the Falcons had to make a comeback in the second half were dashed when the Indians went on a 12-4 run to start the third quarter. Samantha Rigley was the catalyst in the streak as she hit for six points.

Rigley, who is bound for Pepperdine next season, finished with 15 points and 11 assists.

“We got beat by a very, very good team,” Baumann said. “But we have nothing to hang our heads about. We accomplished our ultimate goal Saturday in the Sports Arena. (by winning the section title).

“Tonight doesn’t diminish what we did this season one bit.”