Marching on Sacramento

One more for the road.

After being shipped off on three lengthy trips in five days, the Harvard-Westlake High girls’ basketball team wrote its own ticket to Sacramento.

The Wolverines routed Fullerton Rosary, 72-50, before 573 Saturday at the Pyramid to earn the Division III Southern Regional title and a berth in the state final.

“It’s going to be great,” said forward L’Tanya Robnett, who scored nine points. “I can’t wait.”

Harvard-Westlake (29-5) must wait only until next Saturday, when it will face Lafayette Acalanes (27-4) at Arco Arena.

No. 2 Acalanes defeated top-seeded Loomis Del Oro, 37-22, Saturday in the Northern Regional final.

After regional victories in San Diego on Tuesday and in Shafter on Thursday, the Wolverines looked anything but road-weary against the Southern Section Division III-AA champion and top-seeded team in the regional.

They claimed a 19-11 first-quarter lead, extended it to 31-20 at halftime and eventually built a 63-33 cushion midway through the fourth quarter.

Forward Omelogo Udeze, averaging 23.5 points in six playoff games, collecting 23 points and 17 rebounds.

“[Udeze] is an exceptional player,” said guard Maggie Barnett, Rosary’s top scorer. “She just killed us. She dominated us.”

But Udeze had lots of help.

Guard Brooke Porter had 17 points, forward Rolake Bamgbose had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Robnett added nine points.

Michelle Ghodsian was assigned to track Rosary’s Barnett, who scored 13 of her 22 points in the final 3:45 after Harvard-Westlake emptied its bench.

“Last night, I dreamed that everything clicked, that we all worked well together and that everyone contributed,” Udeze said. “My dream came true.”

While nearby Ventura Buena claimed state Division I titles in 1983 and ‘84, no girls’ basketball team from the San Fernando Valley has ever won a title.

The state finals date to 1981, making the Valley zero for 18. It’s a statistic that hardly intimidates the Wolverines, who saw their boys’ team win state championships in 1996 and ’97.

“Hey, we’re ready to make some history,” Robnett said while clutching the regional championship plaque.

Recent history had not been kind to Harvard-Westlake (29-5), which shot no better than 36% from the field in any of its three previous visits to the Pyramid.

Last season, the Wolverines made only 19 of 79 shots (24%) during a 50-45 loss to Alemany in the regional final.

“We remember how that felt,” Porter said. “We weren’t going to let that happen again.”

Harvard-Westlake made 28 of 68 shots (41%) and outclassed the Royals (24-9), who shot 33%, in just about every facet of the game.

Harvard-Westlake outrebounded Rosary, 55-31, including 27 off the offensive glass.

The Wolverines made more free throws (13-10), had more assists (14-10), more three-point baskets (3-2), and got to just about every loose ball.

Harvard-Westlake was a postseason pick to reach Sacramento.

But a seven-point loss to Inglewood Morningside in the Southern Section Division III-A final dropped the Wolverines to a No. 3 seeding and forced trips to San Diego Kearny and a date with Wasco High at Shafter, 30 miles northwest of Bakersfield, for regional preliminaries.

“We’ve come a long way in a week,” said Coach Brian Taylor, who is 78-19 overall and 12-3 in the playoffs since taking over the program in 1996. “But we’ve still got a long way to go.”