Mendiola Scores ‘Only’ 24 in All-Star Win

Foothill Coach Ty Watkins said one of the best things about leading the South team at the Orange County girls’ basketball all-star game was that he didn’t have to coach against El Toro standout Giuliana Mendiola.

Mendiola scorched his Knights for 55 points in a game earlier this season, and she came up with a game-high 24 Saturday to lead the South to a 64-60 victory over the North at Orange Coast College.

“We were joking that this was the first time the Foothill coaching staff had held Giuliana to under 30 points,” Watkins said. “We were so excited, then we forgot she was on our team.”

Mendiola, who added seven rebounds and three steals, claimed most valuable player honors. Robert Turner of Western, who had 14 points to lead the North past the South, 84-76, was named boys’ MVP later in the evening.

The games pitted the top seniors from the county, using the Garden Grove Freeway as a dividing line. The South boys lead the North, 22-13, in the overall series while the South girls improved their record to 16-7.

A pair of Mendiola free throws with 40 seconds left iced the South victory in a physical game. Edison’s Michelle Zylstra had 13 points and seven rebounds and Foothill’s Chavaughn Brown scored 11 points and had nine rebounds for the South.

“It was pretty physical out there. I didn’t understand it, but everyone was out to win,” Mendiola said.

Turner, who also won the halftime slam dunk contest, ignited the crowd and his teammates with several dunks in the game to help the North run up a 70-52 lead.

Laguna Beach’s Travis Hanour (14 points) got the South team off to a good start with a pair of acrobatic jams, but a patient North offense took the lead late in the first half and never looked back.

Doug Brown of Esperanza had 14 points for the North, which also got 12 points each from Jeff Grgas (Los Alamitos) and Dan Melton (Loara). Grgas led the North with nine rebounds.

Dustin Kaatz of Marina led the South team with 17 points.