Win Puts Rosary Near Title

With a chance to win its first league title since 1984, when Rosary was in the Sunrise League and junior point guard Maggie Barnett was a toddler, the Royals wiped out an 18-point halftime deficit to take a 50-47 victory over 10th-ranked Westminster on Tuesday.

Only Santa Ana (1-24, 0-9) on Thursday stands in the way of Rosary (18-8, 8-1) winning the Golden West League title, while Westminster (20-5, 8-1) must win Friday at home against third-place Tustin (14-10, 6-3) to keep pace.

It’s the second game in a row Rosary has come from 18 points back. The Royals did the same thing last week to beat Tustin, 52-47.

“That definitely helped us,” said Barnett, who scored 15, including 11 in the second half. “It showed us that even though we were down, we could come back. I don’t think we would’ve won if we hadn’t had that experience against Tustin.”

The Royals trailed, 34-16, and post player Romina Bollini went to the bench 26 seconds into the second half with four fouls. With Bollini out, Rosary increased its full-court pressure, got great play from its bench and Jenise Karcher (nine points, 11 rebounds) and whittled the deficit to 44-38.

Bollini then excelled in the fourth quarter, scoring seven of her nine points and grabbing six of her 10 rebounds.

Her baskets tied the score at 45 and gave Rosary a 47-45 lead with 3:59 remaining. Her free throw with 22 seconds left made it 50-47.

All that remained was Tara Moore’s three-point attempt in the final seconds. She scored 26, including all 13 of Westminster’s second-half points, but her final shot dropped into Barnett’s hands. Rosary fans stormed the court as Rosary positioned itself for its first league title in 15 years.

In other league games:

Tustin 57, Saddleback 47--Brook Brown’s 19 points and 11 rebounds led Tustin. Prabjot Kaur scored 17 for Saddleback.

Ocean View 30, Santa Ana 26--Lissa Sheppard scored 11 for the Seahawks (9-14, 2-7).