El Toro’s Miracle Run Finally Ends

The El Toro girls’ basketball team ran out of miracles Tuesday in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs.

Faced with a seven-point deficit with two minutes remaining and its star player on the bench with five fouls, El Toro couldn’t find another storybook finish and fell to Long Beach Wilson, 62-53, Tuesday at Santa Margarita High.

Wilson’s 5-foot-2 junior Kim Gildersleeve scored 16 of her 24 points in the second half and helped Wilson outscore El Toro, 15-6, over the final 4 1/2 minutes.

Senior center Crystal Givens added 14 points and 15 rebounds as the Bruins (24-3) advanced to the final to face Palos Verdes Peninsula. El Toro finished 27-3.

The Chargers, who had three come-from-behind victories to reach the semifinals, made it interesting although they weren’t sharp. El Toro shot 30% (18 of 61) from the field and managed only two field goals in the fourth quarter.

El Toro sophomore Giuliana Mendiola scored 23 points, making four of seven from three-point range, against Wilson’s mix of zone and man-to-man defenses.

Mendiola’s sister, Gioconda, added 13 points, and her three-pointer to open the fourth quarter and Giuliana’s two free throws with 7 minutes 2 seconds remaining helped to give El Toro a 47-43 lead. But it unraveled from there.

Wilson switched to a box-and-one on Giuliana Mendiola as the third quarter closed, and she didn’t make another field goal. Wilson’s 14-3 run put the Bruins ahead, 57-50, with 2:10 remaining, then Giuliana Mendiola fouled out with 2:03 remaining, hustling after an El Toro turnover and colliding with Gildersleeve.

“I like the way those sisters play,” Wilson Coach Margaret Mohr said. “They’re gutty players. But when [Giuliana] fouled out, you could see the expressions on their faces . . . they dropped.”

El Toro had opportunities, but its starting front line made only three of 21 shots. And most were either missed layups or short and medium-range jumpers.

“[In the quarterfinals against top-seeded] Crescenta Valley, we make six of six layups down the stretch and win, 63-61,” said El Toro Coach Vincent Avitable, whose team has only one senior. “But how many did we miss tonight? We had our chances.”