Fountain Valley Latest Palmdale Believer, 62-51

The Palmdale High players are the Rodney Dangerfields of the Southern Section girls’ basketball playoffs.

The Falcons, champions of the Golden League, got no respect from section officials, who did not seed them in the top four in the I-AA playoff bracket.

But after defeating Fountain Valley, 62-51, in overtime Saturday night to advance to the division semifinals, the Falcons are gaining believers.

Kristi Rose scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half, six coming in the overtime period, when Palmdale (27-2) outscored Fountain Valley, 13-2. Rose, who will play at Utah next season, also had 14 rebounds.

Edniesha Curry had 17 points and Monique Nolan added 14 points and five assists for the Falcons.

Palmdale will face Simi Valley in the semifinals Tuesday.

In another Division I-AA quarterfinal:

Simi Valley 64, Diamond Bar 58--Tawnee Cooper scored 17 of her 33 points in the fourth period and grabbed 18 rebounds for the second-seeded Pioneers (27-2) in a quarterfinal game at Simi Valley.

Jamie Griffin had 12 points and Shannon Malia added 12 rebounds for Simi Valley.

DIVISION III-A

Morningside 53, Notre Dame 50--Two missed three-point shots in the final seconds of a semifinal game at Bell-Jeff cost Notre Dame (19-8) a spot in the division final.

The Knights led by three at the half, 28-25, but Morningside (24-3) edged ahead in the third quarter, 42-41. With Notre Dame trailing by three with eight seconds remaining in the game, Ashly Ritter and Lourdes Slinsky both fired off three-point shots that fell short.

Slinsky finished with 12 points and six assists. Stacey Phillips had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Morningside’s Antoniette Thompson had 16 points.

Nordhoff 68, San Dimas 62--Foul shooting made the difference for Nordhoff (20-8) in a semifinal game. The Rangers were 18 of 25 from the line. San Dimas made only eight of 18.

Nell Becker led Nordhoff with 19 points, and Keyana Stanford added 16. Sarah Becker had 11. Joclyn Veal had 23 for San Dimas and Burgundy Porter added 17.

DIVISION IV-AA

St. Bernard 60, Louisville 33--The Royals (18-8) ran into a superior team in a semifinal matchup at Chaminade Prep.

Adriane Bilek scored nine points for Louisville and Becky Witt added eight.

Santa Ynez 78, Fillmore 59--Christie Rosenblad had 24 points and seven assists, but the Flashes (23-4) were defeated by the top-seeded Pirates (27-0) in a semifinal at Nordhoff High. April Kozar had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Julie Arundell added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Fillmore.

DIVISION V-AA

Arrowhead Christian 56, Holy Martyrs 41--Ani Mahroukian scored 20 points for host Holy Martyrs (20-5) in a quarterfinal game.

Arrowhead Christian, capitalizing on a series of Armen turnovers, built its lead to 46-27 by the end of the third quarter.

Holy Martyrs came alive in the fourth behind Mahroukian, who made three three-pointers, but couldn’t catch up. Mahroukian was the only Armen who scored in double digits.

Veronica Patee scored 32 points for Arrowhead Christian.