Moorpark, Hinojosa Fall in a Flurry

The stats for Damaris Hinojosa must have been wrong. Flat-out inaccurate. Or a misprint at the worst time.

But there they were, much to the chagrin of Hinojosa and Moorpark High: Nine-of-36 shooting and seven turnovers.

The 28 points Hinojosa scored--a dream for most girls’ basketball players--were small consolation for Hinojosa as Moorpark lost to Santa Ana Foothill, 41-35, in a Southern Section Division II-AA semifinal on Saturday at Westlake High.

Hinojosa, who has been the team leader for second-seeded Moorpark (25-3), was on target with her postgame analysis.

“Everyone’s sucking it in now and smiling,” she said. “We know when we get home, we’ll be bawling.”

Hinojosa surpassed her 26.2 scoring average, but she had trouble finding a rhythm.

“I tried driving and driving, but I think I was concentrating too much on drawing the foul and didn’t focus enough on the basket,” she said. “I couldn’t hit anything.”

Kristen Mann, who guarded Hinojosa, scored 12 points for third-seeded Foothill (27-3), which will play top-seeded Brea Olinda, ranked No. 18 in the nation, in the II-AA championship on Friday or Saturday at Long Beach State.

“I think [Mann] was the intimidating factor in front of Hinojosa,” Foothill Coach Ty Watkins said. “[Hinojosa] had an off-night, but she’s going to play a lot of college basketball at Pepperdine over the next few years.”

Chavaughn Brown also scored 12 points for Foothill.