Glendale Has Winning Hand Over Littlerock

Glendale High extended its best girls’ basketball season since 1991, but the only thing that continued for Littlerock was its playoff frustration.

The Dynamiters defeated Littlerock, 65-50, on Thursday night in a Southern Section Division I-AA wild-card game at Glendale.

Glendale (18-9) advanced to a first-round game on Saturday at Chino, the Baseline League champion.

In its eight-year history, Littlerock (14-13) has yet to win a playoff game in any sport. The Lobos are now 0-4 in girls’ basketball.

The Lobos committed 14 of their 26 turnovers in the first quarter, allowing Glendale to lead, 19-8.

“In the first half, we were pretty nervous,” said Littlerock Coach Tom Hegre, whose team dropped its last three games after leading scorer and rebounder Kristel Jones was declared academically ineligible.

The Lobos also had to do without injured forward Mercedes Wiggins, their tallest player at 5 feet 11.

Everyone showed up for Glendale, which had four players score more than 10 points apiece for the first time this season.

Senior guard Mania Houspian had 14 points, junior forward Hilary Driffill had 14 points and 12 rebounds, junior Stephanie Sabins had 13 points and senior Evette Petrosian scored 11.

“That’s definitely what we needed,” Dynamiter Coach Jerry Mike said of the scoring balance.

Rashawna Mays of Littlerock scored 13 points, Jolena Haywood had 12, Jameka Taylor had nine and Blake Averill had eight.