Lembke Helps South Girls Post Victory

Anna Lembke, who often played out of position this season because her Ocean View team was undermanned, scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds to help the South girls to a 73-70 victory Saturday in the Orange County All-Star Game at Orange Coast College.

Lembke, a 6-foot-2 Pepperdine-bound forward, provided much-needed post play against the North team, which had six players taller than 6 feet. She was named the game’s most valuable player.

“At Ocean View, I was forced to play a different style,” said Lembke, who sometimes played point guard for the Seahawks (13-16), who reached the Southern Section III-AA semifinals behind her strong play. “This gave me a little confidence. I could play the way I was before Ocean View lost its players.”

Lembke, the only South player with more than four rebounds, wasn’t alone in the spotlight. Marina’s Natalie Nakase (UCLA), the Times Orange County player of the year, scored 17, had 10 assists and five steals. Capistrano Valley’s Mary Anderson (Mesa State in Texas) had four points, three steals and three assists, and played a critical role when the game turned on a 10-0 spurt opening the second half.

Anderson, a point guard, had two steals, an assist and a basket during the run, which turned a 38-37 deficit into a 47-38 lead.

Brethren Christian’s Cindy Oparah scored all 10 of her points in the final 10 minutes, and Villa Park’s Missy Bynon (Cal State Fullerton) triggered a comeback to make it close.

Bynon (20 points, four three-point baskets) scored 13 in the final four minutes, including seven in a 40-second span to cut the South’s lead to 64-62 with 2:49 remaining. Lembke, who had four fouls, returned, and Nakase made five of six free-throws (the South made seven of 10) from that point.