Wednesday Games Now Scheduled

The Southern Section girls’ basketball playoffs will stretch a little longer than expected this week as two county teams play Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Because its boys’ team will play Tuesday, the top-seeded Brea Olinda (25-3) will play fourth-seeded La Puente Bishop Amat (27-3) on Wednesday at Esperanza High. If the Ladycats win that Division II-A semifinal, they’ll be in position to win their ninth consecutive section championship.

Mater Dei (21-6), seeded fourth in Division I-A, also will play Wednesday because of a conflict with its boys’ team. The Monarchs will play Ventura Buena (24-2) at Ventura High.

X-rays late Saturday revealed that Lori Hurlbut, Mater Dei’s leading three-point shooter, did not suffer a fracture to her shooting hand, as was feared by coaches after the Monarchs’ 66-52 quarterfinal victory over San Clemente. Doctors told Hurlbut she suffered a deep bruise to the top of her hand.

“I just have to rest it and ice it until then,” Hurlbut said Sunday.

The one semifinal game that will be played Tuesday as scheduled is the Division V-AA game pitting second-seeded Capistrano Valley Christian (22-5) against third-seeded Lone Pine (25-2). The alternate site of that game hasn’t been determined, but Capistrano Valley Christian will be the home team.

One county team has already qualified for the finals, which will be played Friday and Saturday at the Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus. Laguna Hills (26-3) will make its first section championship appearance against Cerritos Gahr (19-8), a wild-card team. The date and time of the game hasn’t been determined.