CIF STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : DIVISION II GIRLS’ BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Woodbridge Gets Even With Title : Division II girls: The Warriors avenge past disappointments with 55-40 victory over Sacramento El Camino.

The players, and the program, had been chasing ghosts.

The ghost of Brea Olinda.

The ghost of Sacramento El Camino.

The ghost of their most humiliating defeat in school history.

Friday night in the State Division II girls’ basketball championship, Woodbridge caught them all.

With a 55-40 victory over El Camino at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, the Warriors became only the second Orange County girls’ basketball team to win a State title, joining Brea Olinda--a five-time champion that Woodbridge beat twice this season.

Woodbridge (33-1) avenged last year’s 71-38 loss to El Camino (32-3) in the State final, that came after 32 victories without a defeat.

The Warriors lived up to their ranking as the top-ranked team in the state.

“We’ve had this team on our minds for 365 days,” Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs said. “How many times do you go through the spring, summer and fall thinking about that one team and then get a chance to play them?

“Once we heard they won their regional, we didn’t have to say a word to the players. They knew all they needed to know.”

Woodbridge hardly saved its best for last--with 22 turnovers--but the Warriors turned in a defensive performance that was second to none.

El Camino averaged 74 points and 74 shots, but managed only 40 points (its first sub-50 game of the season) and 42 shots against Woodbridge’s mostly matchup zone. The Eagles were supposed to run and gun, but never got on track because Woodbridge answered with its own pressure.

The Warriors slowed the pace to their liking. Though unable to pound the ball inside as it had hoped, Woodbridge took advantage of its size by outrebounding El Camino on offense, 13-11; the Warriors had a 34-19 rebounding advantage overall.

Six-foot-four Angela Burgess, the only senior starter, was four for five, mostly on put-backs. She finished with eight points and six rebounds.

“This is the best gift a team could give a senior,” she said. “We were humiliated last year and we made a deal--no way will that happen again.”

There were shades of a repeat in the early going, though. The Warriors made only 15 of 66 shots last year and were three of 15 in the first quarter this year and trailed, 11-6. But that’s where the comparison ended. Woodbridge finished 21 for 44 (47.8%).

El Camino shot 50% at halftime, but managed only 16 shots; the Eagles were miserable from the field in the second half, making only six of 26 (23%).

“This is a dream we’ve dreamed for a year now,” said Melanie Pearson, who had 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. “Our mission, our goal, was to get back here ever since we lost last year.”

Pearson was crucial, scoring six second-quarter points and, in one stretch, making five of seven shots as Woodbridge extended a one-point halftime lead to 36-29 going into the fourth quarter. She was also instrumental in defending El Camino’s Antoinette Polk, who was averaging 13 points. Polk scored two.

Erin Stovall, who had missed seven consecutive shots, hit an NBA three-point basket with one second left in the first half to give the Warriors their first lead, 23-22.

“That set the pace for the rest of the game,” Burgess said.

Stovall was five for six in the second half and finished with a game-high 17 points.

“I guess I get more into the game in the second half when the game’s on the line,” said Stovall, a sophomore with a penchant for clutch performances. “I think it got us pumped up. It symbolized that this was our game.”

Indeed it was. Woodbridge was 11 for 16 from the field in the second half and nine for 12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter after El Camino pulled to 38-35 on Courtney Horner’s three-pointer with 6 minutes 15 seconds left.

It was a sweet victory for Bangs, who did not coach during the 1990-91 season to re-evaluate his career.

“Like I said when I took the sabbatical, I didn’t want to come back and go five more years of 21-6,” Bangs said. “We want to take this thing as far as we can.”