Mendiola Scores 40 for El Toro

In the fourth quarter of Thursday’s El Toro-Capistrano Valley girls’ basketball game, the lead changed seven times. But one thing stayed the same.

Almost everything El Toro guard Giuliana Mendiola threw toward the basket went in--as had been the case all night. Mendiola scored 16 of her game-high 40 points in the fourth quarter as the No. 8 Chargers pulled away from the host Cougars for a 64-59 South Coast League victory.

What made Thursday’s effort remarkable for Mendiola, the county scoring leader at 31 points per game, was that she played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls.

The Chargers (10-5, 2-1) began the quarter trailing, 46-41, but a quick basket by Mendiola and a three-pointer from Sara Brown tied the game with 6 minutes 32 seconds to play.

After several lead changes, a pair of free throws by Nicki Howard brought the Cougars (11-5, 1-2) to within two with 1:42 left. But Mendiola drove the baseline and converted a three-point play to help put it out of reach.

“It was really hard playing with four fouls,” said Mendiola, who had eight rebounds and was 16 of 17 from the free-throw line. “My teammates picked it up defensively and it gave me a chance to back off some. On offense, I didn’t care. I just wanted to win.”

Lindsay Peloza finished with 16 points after scoring 13 in the first half for Capistrano Valley. Jessica Voisard, Hallie Steube and Howard each had 13 for the Cougars.