Westminster Toes Line in Victory Over Rosary

The battle for Golden West League girls’ basketball supremacy turned out to be, in the words of Westminster Coach Dick Katz, “a war of attrition.”

Officials called 64 fouls as seven players fouled out in eighth-ranked Westminster’s 73-68 overtime victory Thursday at Rosary.

Though there were 86 free throws under the gaze of referees Dan Ratzlaff and John Hill, a field goal actually played a role in the outcome. After Westminster pulled to within 68-67 on Diana Hernandez’s free-throw, junior Holly Armstrong stole the inbounds pass under the basket for an easy layup with 38 seconds remaining in overtime.

That gave Westminster (15-3, 4-0), defending league co-champion, a 69-68 lead. Hernandez intercepted a pass and the Lions ran down the clock. When the ball went back across midcourt and Rosary Coach Rich Yoon pleaded for a backcourt call, he was assessed a technical foul with 14.6 seconds remaining--the 33rd of 34 fouls against the Royals (13-7, 3-1).

Tara Moore, who scored 22, converted both free throws for a three-point lead. Moore was 18 of 22 from the free-throw line.

Even with Westminster retaining possession, Rosary wasn’t out of it. Gayle Sonoda stole the pass and shot a hurried three-pointer that was partially blocked. Maggie Barnett grabbed the air ball and fired up a quick three-point attempt that missed. Hernandez got the rebound and, of course, was fouled. She made both, finishing with six points, three in overtime.

Neither team was able to develop any sense of rhythm as Westminster made 33 of 48 free throws (68.85), while Rosary converted only 20 of 38 (52.6%).

Maggie Barnett, who scored a game-high 27, was the only Rosary starter to finish the game. Three had fouled with 2:32 left in the third quarter, and Romina Bollini (11 points, 11 rebounds) fouled out with 1:52 left in the fourth.

Westminster trailed, 53-48, after three quarters, but a free throw by Rosary’s Bridget O’Connell (10 points, 10 rebounds) with 9.9 seconds left tied the score at 64.

In another league game:

Ocean View 42, Santa Ana 26--Jasmine Leibel had 10 points and eight rebounds for Ocean View (9-10, 1-3), which led by 10 after the first quarter.