Irvine Storms Back, Proves a Point With Overtime Win

For the last two seasons, Irvine has heard the criticism. Too soft, both physically and emotionally, to beat the good teams.

But the 10th-ranked Vaqueros turned in a solid performance Saturday, overcoming a 16-point deficit to defeat fourth-ranked San Clemente, 78-77, in overtime at the Holiday Hoopla tournament.

“This shows we can play with anyone,” said Kristin Thawley, who scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds. “I’m just so glad we won; we totally deserve that after all the close games we’ve had.”

Irvine lost by five points to Esperanza, to Foothill in overtime, and to Harbor City Narbonne. Until now, they had yet to have a signature victory.

“We finally got over that hump,” said Nikki Kamada, a 5-foot-7 guard who grabbed a loose ball amid several taller defenders under the basket and put the ball up at the buzzer. It tied the score at 68 in regulation.

Kamada, who had 10 points and seven rebounds, was four-for-four from the free-throw line in overtime, making two with eight seconds left that gave Irvine a 78-74 lead.

Staci Morita, Irvine’s other guard, had two baskets in overtime as part of her 16 points. Her six-footer from the baseline gave Irvine a 70-68 lead 23 seconds into overtime, the Vaqueros’ second lead of the game.

Jody Carlson scored 22 for Irvine (5-3). San Clemente (7-1) had five players in double figures, with Sara Brown, Lindsey Pluimer and Megan Blackshire scoring 15 each.

Irvine fell behind, 11-2, within three minutes, and trailed by 16 with 2:08 left in the half, 38-22.

San Clemente led by 10 going into the fourth quarter, 57-47, but committed seven turnovers and made three of only eight shots. In contrast, Irvine, which made only 17 of 44 shots the first three quarters, made 12 of its last 22.

In other tournament games:

Laguna Hills 61, Cerritos 17--The Hawks took an 18-2 lead in the first quarter and kept building from there. Guard Megan Aaker had a game-high 18 points, including two three-pointers. Brooke Bartelson had 12 points and Christina Leets contributed 12 rebounds as Laguna Hills improved to 5-4.

Rancho Bernardo 59, Huntington Beach 45--The Oilers (4-3) trailed by six after one quarter and were down, 35-23, at intermission. Amy Shaw had 16 points and Amy Sanders contributed 14 for Huntington Beach.