Irvine Girls Roll to Tournament Title Victory

The new, improved Irvine girls’ basketball team looked scary on Wednesday night.

Not scared, but scary.

The Vaqueros, ranked sixth in Orange County, provided a full-scale blitz of the fifth-ranked team from San Diego County, Rancho Bernardo, 70-39.

The victory provided Irvine with the San Clemente Holiday Hoopla title and a head of steam going into the Orange County Championship tournament next week at Edison High.

“We’re a lot more confident now and that goes back to beating [second-ranked] San Clemente [on Saturday],” said Kristin Thawley, who scored 16 and had 11 rebounds Wednesday. “We know we can play with the top teams.”

Staci Morita, Nikki Kamada and Ali Grechko handed out five assists each, and Irvine players shot 62.3% from the field, 33 of 53.

Morita, a three-year starter who scored nine points, said, “This last week is the best we’ve played in my three years.”

“They function extremely well together,” said Peggy Brose, coach of Rancho Bernardo (5-4).

Irvine (7-3) jumped to a 25-7 lead after one quarter and shot 68%, 17 of 25, in the first half.

Irvine Coach Dennis Hurley said the Vaqueros are now relaxed and that “allows us to play the way we’re capable of, instead of thinking about it.”

The Vaqueros got 15 points from guard Nikki Kamada. Another starter, Jody Carlson, scored six but had 14 rebounds.