Brea Survives Troy Scare to Win 10th Straight Title

Can you say upset?

Certainly, most of the folks inside the Pyramid could say it Friday through the first 20 minutes of the Southern Section Division II-AA girls’ basketball final.

Brea Olinda, ranked No. 1 in the state and 11th in the nation, and an enormous favorite over third-seeded Troy, actually trailed by six points.

But the Ladycats, like they have done in 41 previous section playoff games, won in the end.

Brea went on a 20-2 run over the third and fourth quarters to beat Troy, 52-37, and win its 10th consecutive section title.

The Ladycats (29-1) found themselves in a fight they didn’t expect.

“It was unbelievable,” said 6-foot-2 forward Chelsea Trotter, who didn’t make a field goal until the second half, when the run was getting under way. “I was blown away.”

Brea played horribly in the first half, getting outhustled by a Troy team (28-3) that played as though it had nothing to lose. And in fact, it didn’t.

“We did everything we wanted to do,” said Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan, “except win.

“I’m not a big believer in moral victories, but when we went in at halftime, these people [in the crowd] were believing.”

And that was the impetus for Brea, which risked losing the streak it holds so dear.

With 4 minutes 6 seconds left in the third quarter, Troy called a timeout and Brea changed from its pressing defense to a zone. The Ladycats paid the price immediately, as Heidi Hardeman (seven points) hit a three-point shot from the corner to give Troy a six-point lead, 27-21.

But then Brea went on a 20-2 run to take command of the game behind Lindsey Davidson (11 points), Jeri Costello (six points), Kate Ides (11 points) and Trotter (10 points).

Costello scored four of her six points, and also had a block and steal, to contribute to the first 10 points of the run.

Trotter, a sophomore forward, had missed her first four shots of the game as Brea tried to pound the ball inside. But she scored off a nifty pass from Davidson (four assists), a junior, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“My confidence soared after the first basket,” said Trotter, who finished with 12 rebounds.

Over a longer stretch, Brea outscored Troy, 29-7.

“I waffled about what I wanted to do,” Brea Coach Jeff Sink said. “In the first half, we played to them. The game plan was to go to a 2-3 zone, go big, pound the ball inside and slowly pull away.”

Instead, he threw that plan out almost immediately as Troy jumped to an 8-2 lead.

Sink went to a small, quick lineup. Ultimately, it may have worked as Troy tired in the second half.

But Sink went big in the second half and it paid off.

“They ran out of gas,” Kiernan said. “It took everything we had to keep it close. Finally Trotter and Ides wore us down.”

Both coaches thought Ides, a 6-0 forward who had scored only eight points in three playoff games, was the difference. She was taken out in the first half as a concession to quickness. In the second half, she grabbed all five of her rebounds and scored all 11 of her points.

But Davidson, a 5-10 guard who had three steals, also had her moments. She had three steals with her 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The task facing Brea now is to go beyond the Southern California Regional final. Since winning its national championship during its undefeated season in 1993-94--and claiming its fifth state title--the Ladycats have not returned to the season’s final game.

Instead, they have ended a game short.

Kristen Arnold scored nine points for Troy. Hardeman, averaging 18, scored seven, along with Sarah Spencer and Veronica Johns.