Woodbridge Survives Foul Trouble

For the second consecutive game, Melanie Pearson picked up two fouls before Woodbridge had scored a point.

And for the second consecutive time, freshman Cathy Joens made sure nobody would notice.

Joens’ latest heroics came in the Southern Section Division II-AA championship game. She scored eight of the Warriors’ first 10 points, and Pearson finished the job by scoring eight in the fourth quarter as Woodbridge came from behind to beat Riverside North, 54-46, Saturday at the Pyramid.

The Warriors (28-2), who won their third consecutive Southern Section title, trailed, 7-0, when Pearson was whistled for her second foul with 4:49 left in the first quarter.

In the Warriors’ semifinal victory over Cerritos Gahr, Pearson had two fouls in the first two minutes and was limited to nine points in the game.

Joens again was asked to replace Pearson and she scored eight of her 15 points in just more than two minutes.

Pearson did not return in the first half, but Joens (11 rebounds) and Tami Weaver (10 points), who scored seven first-half points, carried Woodbridge to a six-point halftime lead, 29-23.

“I don’t think Cathy knows what a big game this is because she’s so young,” Pearson said. “But she really stepped up again today.”

Pearson stepped up in the second half when the game was on the line.

Her three-point play gave Woodbridge its biggest lead, 35-23, with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter.

But North mounted a 19-4 run and took a three-point lead on Julia Gray’s steal and layin early in the fourth quarter to a give the Huskies a 42-39 lead.

Pearson, held to two points through first three quarters, then got hot.

She put back her miss to make it a one-point game.

Joens and Pearson followed with baskets to put Woodbridge on top by five with 1:52 remaining.

It was a burst by Pearson that North Coach John Reinhold had seen before. He knew what Pearson, a UCLA-bound senior, could do when when the game was to be decided.

Woodbridge Coach Pat Quinn was pleased with the victory, but could not explain the foul trouble that plagued his team of late.

“The foul trouble has been a problem through the whole playoffs,” he said. “I don’t understand it. The games have been Helter Skelter and every time we come out of a pile, we have a foul called on us.”

Three players finished the game with four fouls, Pearson (10 points), Erin Conley and Erin Stovall (13 points, five steals).