Warriors’ Stovall Puts On a Game-Winning Show

Erin Stovall looked at the scoreboard. She didn’t smile.

She checked it again, with a game face that matched any she’d worn during the game. Still no smile.

Finally she realized Woodbridge had won. Now came that lobe-to-lobe grin.

“I heard the buzzer and had to look at the score,” said Stovall, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard. “Then I went, ‘Oh yeah, we won.’ Then I could smile.”

Her teammates already were beaming. They had watched a typical not-going-to-be-denied Stovall flurry in their 53-49 victory over Brea Olinda Saturday at The Pond.

Stovall scored seven of the Warriors’ final nine points. She scored five consecutive points to break a 48-48 tie and put Woodbridge in the State Division II final for the second consecutive season.

When it was over, Stovall was still focused. This time on the scoreboard, after committing a foul at the buzzer.

“I was sure they were going to make two free throws and we were going to overtime,” Stovall said. “Then I saw we were five points ahead. I just never know what the score is out there.”

Again, Stovall’s teammates had counted on her in the clutch. Again, she didn’t disappoint.

As a whole, this was not her best game. She finished with a respectable 14 points and three assists. Still, she’d missed some layups here and there, then Brea Olinda’s Kiyoko Miller sink a three-pointer in her face to tie it, 48-48, with 1 minute 22 seconds left.

But her moment was coming. Stovall’s teammates knew it, even if she didn’t.

“Oh yeah, we expect Erin to take over,” center Angela Burgess said. “We don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it’s always going to happen.”

It happened with 1:09 left. Stovall got the ball on the wing and sliced through the middle for a short jumper and was fouled.

“Erin only needs a two-inch crack to slip through,” Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs said. “We just spread the court and let her drive.”

Stovall’s free throw gave the Warriors a 51-48 lead.

Seconds later, she stepped in front of Miller for a steal, which was followed by a layup for a 53-48 lead with 57 seconds left.

“No one’s going to catch her in the open court,” Bangs said. “She can be unstoppable. Thank God she took over.”

Stovall said: “I just play, I don’t keep track of the score.”

That’s what scoreboards are for.