San Clemente Can’t Survive Cold Spell; Narbonne Wins

The championship game of the Marina girls’ basketball tournament on Tuesday went down as one of the most memorable of its 17 years.

Yes, Harbor City Narbonne, ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 10 in the nation, successfully defended its title. But it will long be remembered for the numbers associated with its 42-39 victory over San Clemente, which is ranked second in Orange County and eighth in California.

San Clemente (13-2) missed its first 21 shots and made only 15 of 74 from the field--and had a chance to win it at the end.

“That’s unbelievable--to go 0-for-21 and never be out of the game,” San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan said. “I just now told the girls, you can play with the best. This game proves that. That’s why you play these games against this level of competition--to match up and see how you do.”

San Clemente ultimately did pretty well. By the time Marissa Ficklin made a free throw with 49 seconds left in the first quarter, the Tritons trailed, 14-0.

But that’s when San Clemente began the long road back into the game. The Tritons successfully pressed Narbonne (13-1), which was bigger and stronger, into 28 turnovers, somewhat negating its own dismal shooting performance. The Gauchos made 19 of 47 shots.

“One break here or there, an early three-pointer, an inside shot, a missed layup,” Mulligan said, “you have to give Narbonne credit; they must have blocked 30 shots.”

San Clemente closed to 40-39 when Colleen Turnbull (nine pints, eight rebounds) took a Debby Caine pass and scored from four feet with 53 seconds left. Caine’s sixth steal gave the Tritons another opportunity, but her shot was blocked by tournament MVP Loree Moore with 22 seconds remaining, and Moore’s layup at the other end with 11 seconds left made it 42-39.

Caine (eight points, 0-for-6 from the three-point line) took an off-balance three-point shot with three seconds remaining, but it was short and so were the Tritons.

“We really came out intimidated--that’s why our shots were off,” said Kelley Kruger, who had eight points and five steals and was named to the all-tournament team with teammate Turnbull. “In the second half we settled down.”

In the third-place game:

Vista Rancho Buena Vista 54, No. 5 Mater Dei 29--Twice Mater Dei was held to five points in a quarter as it fell to the state’s No. 4 team. Maile Shimoda scored eight for the Monarchs (7-7). Rancho Buena Vista is 12-1.

In other tournament games:

No. 6 Marina 72, Long Beach Wilson 61--Marina (12-3) had a 13-0 third quarter run and stretched a two-point lead to 16, 56-40. The Bruins (9-2) closed to three points in the final three minutes before Karyn Fierst’s basket and Natalie Nakase’s steal and four free throws decided the outcome. Nakase (11 assists, five steals) had 21 points, Fierst had 16, and Chanda McLeod 17.

No. 7 El Dorado 58, Fountain Valley 41--Six-foot-one Stephanie Patten (22 points) won the battle with 6-2 Kelly Boeke (11 points), and 6-2 Jennie Bluth had 16 for El Dorado (10-3). Fountain Valley is 4-9.