Flat Rosary Can’t Stay in the Game

There was something considerably amiss with Rosary at the Long Beach State Pyramid Saturday night for its Southern Section Division III-AA girls’ basketball championship game with Torrance Bishop Montgomery.

Junior forward Jen Farner felt it but was at a loss to understand it. Coach Richard Yoon sensed it, didn’t know what it was and didn’t like it.

It didn’t take long for Bishop Montgomery to exploit Rosary’s lack of composure for a 69-56 victory.

Rosary, which won last year’s Division III-A title, played too tight, according to Yoon, and came out flat. Meanwhile guard Noelle Quinn and center Lauren Ervin (13 rebounds) combined to score 42 points for the Knights (25-3), who figured out early that they could outrun the Royals (22-10) with their fast break.

“I think it was a mental game with them and I don’t think they thought our composure, being that we are such a young team, would be very good and they could come after us,” said guard Tamara Quinn, the only Bishop Montgomery senior on a team with two sophomore and two freshman starters. “Once they got behind, they kind of forced stuff.”

Yoon and Farner, who had 12 points and nine rebounds, did not disagree.

“We didn’t play at the same intensity level that I expected,” Yoon said. “Maybe they thought coming in here having won last year would make a difference. To tell you the truth, there was more pressure on us this year out there than we ever had last time.”

Said Farner: “We weren’t into it in the beginning. Not until the fourth quarter and it was too late.”

The shorter Royals likely needed to have their best game to upend the Knights, anyway.

Bishop Montgomery, on the strength of four fast-break baskets that opened the second quarter, raced to a 27-13 lead and was threatened seriously only once. That came as the third quarter began. Rosary had chipped away at the Knights’ lead, getting it down to seven points at the half. Then it opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from Jenise Karcher and a layup by guard Gayle Sonoda to trail, 31-29. But Bishop Montgomery went on a run again, scoring the next 11 points.

“In the third quarter I thought we would make a run, but we never got over the hump,” Yoon said.

Bishop Montgomery Coach Lisa Corona said the Knights had only one breakdown all evening. “We usually have a bad second quarter,” she said. “We got tired, so I had to pull off our press and rest. But I knew we could go back to it. That’s our game, speed and quickness.”

In four seasons at Rosary, guard Maggie Barnett has meant the world to the Royals. Again and again, the 5-5 guard has found a way to rise to new heights. But Saturday night was not one of them. Barnett shot a cool four of 21 from the field and finished with 15 points.