Foothill Falters Against Fresno Edison

The Foothill girls’ basketball team scored only two points in the first four minutes of the final quarter, and fell to Fresno Edison, 57-44, in the Southern California Division II semifinals Thursday at Edison.

Foothill (28-5), seeded third, rallied from a 11-point third-quarter deficit, taking a 29-28 lead with eight seconds left in the third. Edison’s Amber Easter converted a free throw with five seconds left, tying the score, 29-29, at the end of the quarter.

But Edison (28-1) opened the fourth with a 13-2 run and cruised to the victory. The Tigers will meet top-seeded Brea Olinda Saturday at the Long Beach Pyramid.

“At the end of the third we were in it,” Foothill Coach Ty Watkins said. “But then we had a breakdown and we didn’t box out.”

Foothill gave up the game on the offensive boards, giving the Tigers numerous second and third attempts. While the Tigers only outrebounded the Knights, 32-31, 16 were on the offensive end for Edison.

“Again, we didn’t box out,” Watkins said. “They crashed the boards and we didn’t. We made them take the shots we wanted them to, but the second and third shots killed us.”

Both teams played strong defensively, but it was the coverage on Foothill forward Kristen Mann that kept the Knights from getting back in the game. Mann, who finished with only eight points on three-of-nine shooting from the field, fouled out with 6:23 left in the fourth and her team trailing, 38-31. When sophomore point guard Jacky Williams fouled out seconds later, the game was in the bag for Edison.

The Knights were happy to keep the Tigers under their 80-points-per-game average and Watkins doesn’t see a lot of hope for Edison against Brea.

“Brea is such a disciplined team,” Watkins said. “I don’t think Edison will have much of a chance.”

Foothill junior Chavaughn Brown led the Knights with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Kelsi Sousa had 10 points.