Line Item Vetoes Valencia

Monika Jackley had stepped to the free-throw line 12 times on Wednesday, and had been perfect in each attempt.

So when she stepped to the line with 7.4 seconds remaining and a chance to tie the score with two more against Sonora, few in the Raiders’ gym thought the Valencia senior would miss.

But she did.

The first attempt fell to the side, and as Jackley fell a point short of perfection, so too did Valencia in a 63-62 loss in the second round of the Southern Section Division II-AA girls’ basketball playoffs.

“I didn’t think she’d miss it,” said her coach, Chris Cox.

“I was surprised she missed it,” said an opposing player, Allison Crowther.

“I just blew it,” said Jackley, who scored a game-high 28, including 10 of Valencia’s 16 fourth-quarter points. “I was under pressure and I blew it.”

Jackley’s two free throws with 1:13 remaining, on Mindy Clark’s fifth foul, gave Valencia a 61-59 lead.

Sonora (19-9) will play in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at third-seeded Redondo Beach Redondo, a 60-42 winner over Paso Robles. Valencia finished 23-4.

Sonora fell behind by nine points in the second quarter, but with a 9-0 run tied the score at 25-25 with 15 seconds left in the half--until Jackley hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Sonora led in the second half only three times for a total of 2 minutes 3 seconds--including the last 1:06.

That’s when Cathy Ngo, who scored a team-high 17 points, scored left-handed off an inbounds pass under the basket, then converted the free throw for a three-point play and a 62-61 lead.

“I was so surprised it went in,” Ngo, a right-hander, said of her reverse shot.

Michelle Pietka (25 points) drove to the basket on the other end, but her wild shot with 26 seconds left was errant, and Allison Crowther gave Sonora a 63-61 lead with 13 seconds remaining when she made the second of two free throws.

“I’ve never made a more important basket,” said Crowther, a sophomore. “I’ve been in situations where I needed to make that shot and haven’t. It’s not a good feeling when you miss.”

Six seconds later, Jackley was in the same position.

In other Division II-AA games:

Brea Olinda 56, Pasadena 37--Chelsea Trotter scored 28 points and had 11 rebounds for host Brea (23-5). Daveri Bonnewitz had seven steals and held Pasadena’s leading scorer to six points. The Ladycats will play Palm Desert La Quinta.

Foothill 62, Torrance 27--Chavaughn Brown, who had a game-high 23 points, set a school career record for rebounds, getting 15 for a total of 828 rebounds. Kristen Mann had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Knights (21-7), who play Bellflower next.

Santa Margarita 66, Whittier California 52--Colleen O’Leary had 22 points, including six three-pointers, and six assists, and Venessa Ferragamo score 18 points for the Eagles (19-9), who play fourth-seeded Norco.