San Clemente Eliminates Woodbridge

The final score of Wednesday’s Southern Section girls’ basketball playoff game won’t stick in the mind of Woodbridge Coach Eric Bangs. But the score with 5:25 left in the game certainly will.

“Forty-four to 40 is all I’m going to remember for the next 10 years,” he said.

Bangs’ Warriors trailed San Clemente by only four points, but a series of big plays by Kalena Jackson helped the host Tritons to a 53-46 victory in a third-round Division I-A game.

With Triton starters Kimberly Noble and Cassie Kruger in second-half foul trouble, Jackson came up big for the Tritons (25-3), who will face Cerritos in the quarterfinals.

The Warriors (18-10) fell behind, 13-2, but clawed back to within four, at 44-40, on a steal and layup by Kathryn Geneau. Woodbridge got the ball back on a turnover, but Kruger stole the ball and set up Jackson for a three-pointer. Jackson then stole the ball and made another jumper to make it 49-40.

“We were stuck in a slump, no one else was taking the shots so I decided to do it myself,” Jackson said. “I was just doing what my instincts told me.”

After Jackson’s 21-second burst, the Triton defense took control.

“We felt we had a run left in us, but all of the sudden it’s 49-40,” said Bangs. “It was asking too much.”

The Warriors held Noble to no points and four rebounds, but the Tritons got major help from reserves Megan Blackshire (11 points) and Kim Buffum.