Brea Olinda Wins Easily

With 26 seconds left in the first half of Saturday’s nonleague game between two of the state’s best teams, an air conditioning duct at Brea Olinda High sprung a leak.

There was a seven-minute delay before officials decided to finish the half, but by then, the sky had already fallen.

Brea Olinda, ranked No. 1 in the state, had already made its point with a 15-point halftime lead on its way to an 81-59 victory over Ventura Buena before a capacity crowd.

The air conditioning problem delayed the second-half another 14 minutes.

The Ladycats (23-1) avenged a defeat last year to Buena (20-1), which is ranked fifth in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.

There, Buena overcame a 33-26 halftime deficit. This time, it didn’t happen.

“This was a statement game,” said sophomore Chelsea Trotter, who scored 24 points despite missing the entire second quarter because of foul trouble. “Last year we crumbled in the second half. We knew we were a better team but didn’t come ready to finish.”

Most impressive about Brea’s first-half dominance was that it played only 6 minutes 6 seconds with Trotter, its 6-2 center. Trotter made her impact, though, scoring six points and leaving with Brea leading, 14-10.

But the real Bulldog killer was junior Lindsey Davidson, who had four first-quarter steals and five points. And her timing was impeccable because her real heroics came after Buena made its first four shots and took an 8-3 lead.

But Davidson, the only returning starter from last season’s team, had a steal that led to Erin Kelly’s layup, a steal that started a fast break to Jeri Costello, and a steal that ended with her own three-point basket for a 12-8 lead.

“She took over the game,” Brea Coach Jeff Sink said. “All of a sudden, our intensity picked right back up.”