Brea Goes Deep to Defeat Christ the King

With the bulk of its starting unit in foul trouble for much of the game, the Brea Olinda girls’ basketball team found out how deep its bench was in a 63-46 quarterfinal victory over Queens (N.Y.) Christ the King on Saturday in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

Brea Olinda (7-0) had three starters on the bench with four fouls each in the third quarter, but the reserves, led by Jill Trader’s nine points, were able to hold off Christ the King (13-1) until the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

Leading by two, starters Kate Ides, Chelsea Trotter and Jeri Costello returned to put the game away.

Trotter dished out three assists in the deciding minutes of the fourth quarter, and finished with 16 points. Ides finished with 10.

The Ladycats went to the free-throw line 32 times and converted 22. Christ the King was 23 of 38.

All-American Clair Droesch led all scorers for Christ the King with 23 points.

The victory marked a breakthrough for Brea, which had lost all three of its previous meetings with Christ the King: a 54-41 decision in last year’s Tournament of Champions final, a 58-43 loss in Brea in January of 1991, and a 63-62 defeat in overtime of the 1985 Tournament of Champions semifinals.

In other Tournament of Champions games:

El Toro 55, Palisades 38--Giuliana Mendiola scored 25 points and her sister, Gioconda, had 19 for El Toro (6-1) in the Gold Division. The Chargers went on a 17-7 run in the third quarter with the Mendiola sisters combining for all of El Toros’ points.

San Clemente 72, McQueen (Nev.) 42--Whitney Jones scored 13 points and Kimberly Noble had 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead San Clemente in the Gold Division. In the Gary Raya Tournament:

Canyon 42, El Dorado 27--Trish Christian scored 16 points and tournament MVP Meghan O’Neill had 13 to lead Canyon (7-3) in the championship game. Canyon outscored El Dorado, 26-8, in the second and third quarters. Carly Wade scored 11 points for El Dorado (8-2).

Placentia Valencia 51, Aliso Niguel 41--Monika Jackley scored 17 points to lead Valencia (6-4) in the consolation round. Erika Castro led all scorers with 22 for Aliso Niguel (3-10).

In the Artesia Tournament:

Rosary 63, Pasadena Muir 54--Maggie Barnett and Romina Bollini combined for 41 points to lead Rosary (6-3) to a second-round victory. Bollini had 10 points in Rosary’s 30-point second quarter.

Marina 52, Fontana 31--Chanda McLeod scored 22 points for Marina (8-0), which pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Steelers, 12-3.

In the Mission Viejo Tournament:

Foothill 56, Woodbridge 46--Foothill (9-0) led by four at the half and outscored Woodbridge, 15-9, in the third quarter en route to the championship victory. Chavaughn Brown had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Kristen Mann had 15 points and eight rebounds for Foothill. Bryn Riley led Woodbridge (5-4) with 15 points.

Corona del Mar 37, Orange 36--Carrie Hawkins’ last-second layup off a pass from Char Quone clinched the victory for Corona del Mar (5-5). Quone led Corona del Mar with 11 points; Hawkins finished with nine. Randi Perry had 14 points for Orange (6-4), which was outscored, 14-3, in the fourth quarter.

Mission Viejo 53, Santa Ana 28--Erin O’Donnel made three three-pointers and led Mission Viejo (3-8) with 11 points.