Brea Rolls Into Championship Game

Fourth-seeded Norco needed several things to happen in its semifinal Wednesday to end Brea Olinda’s dominance in girls’ basketball.

It needed to contain Chelsea Trotter. It needed to keep Tara Hefferly and Jackie Lord from hitting the outside shot. It needed to prevent Brea from jumping out to an early lead.

It needed a miracle.

Instead, top-seeded Brea beat Norco, 73-46, at Valencia High to send he Ladycats into the Southern Section Division II-AA championship game Friday at the Pyramid in Long Beach. Brea will try to win its 12th consecutive title, one it hopes will be a springboard to a third consecutive state championship.

Less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game, Lord and Hefferly had three-point baskets. The Ladycats made 11 of their first 14 shots. There was no containing Trotter, and Brea scored 27 first-quarter points.

“We tried to stop their strength,” Norco Coach Rick Thompson said, “and they played to it.”

Trotter scored 11 of her game-high 27 points in the first quarter as Brea took a 27-11 lead, and Lord finished with four three-point baskets and 17 points. Hefferly led the eight other Ladycat scorers with eight points, including two three-point baskets.

But everyone seemed to contribute.

* Trotter had 11 rebounds, three steals and a team-high six assists.

* Lord had three steals and five assists.

* Hefferly had four steals and five assists.

* Ashley Saari had four steals and four assists.

* Daveri Bonnewitz had three steals.

Brea made 28 field goals, and had 25 assists. The Ladycats took advantage of 26 turnovers.

“I was very surprised by the score, actually,” Trotter said. “I was looking forward to this game; I felt we would have to come to play, to be on our game for four quarters.”

Trotter might have wanted a competitive game, but instead, Brea (25-5) was on its game for the first two quarters, and in the process, took Norco (25-4) out of the game.

Holding a 46-21 halftime lead, Brea made nine of 15 field-goal attempts in the third quarter. A minute into the fourth, when Brea Coach Jeff Sink gave his starters the extended rest they deserved, Brea had made 26 of 41 from the field, largely on the basis of an excellent night of passing.

“We were passing so well, it was leading to easy baskets,” Trotter said. “That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Their next chance comes Friday at 8:15 when Brea plays Redondo Beach Redondo Union, a team it beat in December in a semifinal of the Ladycat Classic, 71-41.

“But they’re better now,” Sink said.

So, too, is Brea.

“All I can ask down the stretch is that we play hard, and we have,” Sink said. “I think early in the season [while losing five out of six games], we played a bit like a deer caught in a headlight, we were a little self-conscious and we didn’t play with the abandon we needed to, and it was construed as not playing hard. But now, we’re playing with reckless abandon.”

That abandon may prove pivotal. The Ladycats rested their starters almost all of the fourth quarter after extending the lead to 69-32.

“With a one-day turnaround, this kind of game is nice,” Sink said. “The sweetest thing was that we were able to open a 30-point lead and empty the bench.”

With the starters out, Norco scored 11 consecutive points. The Cougars were led by Javonda Moss with 10 points and Lauren Plunkett with eight.

“It was nice to take Trotter out of the game, give Jackie Lord and Daveri Bonnewitz a rest,” Sink said. “Hopefully, that will help on Friday.”