No. 1 Troy Falters in Stretch; Esperanza Advances to Final

It was payback night in Orange County, and nobody got clobbered harder than the No. 1-ranked team.

Troy’s girls’ basketball team failed to score in the last 6 minutes 25 seconds and lost to fourth-ranked Esperanza, 48-41, in the semifinals of the Orange County Championship at Edison High.

Esperanza’s victory avenged a Dec. 22 loss to Troy in the semifinals of the Artesia tournament, 43-36.

Esperanza (10-4) dethroned the reigning tournament champion and set up a third meeting this season against second-ranked San Clemente in tonight’s title game at 7:30.

San Clemente avenged its only loss by defeating sixth-ranked Irvine in the other semifinal, 43-40.

“We’re not a very good team right now,” Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan said. “No excuses.”

For Esperanza, it was a loss earlier this week that led to the determined effort Friday, as well as to Thursday’s demolition of 10th-ranked Foothill. The Aztecs were beaten by Laguna Hills, 51-41, in pool play, and advanced to the championship semifinal against Troy by virtue of point differential.

“The Laguna Hills game was a definite reality check,” said Ashley Van Kurin, who scored a game-high 17 points and had five steals Friday. “This means a lot. Our ability depends on the team as a whole. If one of 11 [players] isn’t playing to her potential, we drop.”

Instead, the Aztecs dropped Troy (10-3) with a defense that caused eight fourth-quarter turnovers.

The Aztecs, who trailed, 41-36, with 6:25 to go, scored the last 12 points, with Van Kurin scoring five. She made a 14-footer for a 42-41 lead, and followed that with a three-pointer for a 45-41 advantage.

She was complemented by Lindsey Helvey, who scored 13, and Bethany Blair, who scored nine and had five steals.

Marc Hill, Esperanza’s coach, said the key to victory was the first quarter, not the fourth. “The first time we played them, we played poorly in the first quarter and even the last three,” he said. “We realized we could play with them.”

No. 2 San Clemente 43, No. 6 Irvine 40--It wasn’t artistic, with the first-quarter score an improbable 4-4, but San Clemente (12-1) avenged a 78-77 overtime loss to Irvine (10-4).

Irvine plays Troy at 6 p.m. in the third-place game.

San Clemente trailed, 35-34, with with 3:16 remaining when Kristin Jenkins made two free throws and Kim Buffum buried a 15-footer for a 38-35 margin. Ashley Housley added a 16-footer from the wing with 1:09 to go for a 40-36 lead.

In consolation games:

Huntington Beach 60, No. 6 Rosary 52--A succession of fouls led to a technical foul called against Rosary Coach Richard Yoon, enabling Huntington Beach to score eight points in a 25-second span and stretch its three-point lead late in the third quarter to 50-37.

The Oilers (7-5), who got 20 points each from Amy Sanders and Amy Shaw, held on after Rosary (11-4) pulled within four points, 54-50, with 1:08 remaining. Jenise Karcher scored 21 and Jen Farner 15 for Rosary.

No. 8 Edison 51, No. 10 Foothill 24--With Foothill’s Kristen Mann sidelined because of a sprained ankle, Edison rolled behind Bianca Ziemann’s 17 points and Rachael Ziemann’s 12. Mann, injured in a 35-point effort against Esperanza, is questionable for today’s game against Rosary. Edison plays Huntington Beach.

Laguna Hills 56, Calvary Chapel 49--Megan Aaker scored 32, nine in the first quarter, as the Hawks (9-6) took a decisive 17-4 lead.