Troy Makes Narbonne Work for Victory

Its state title stripped in 1998, and ineligible for the playoffs in 1999, Harbor City Narbonne took its first step toward a girls’ basketball Division I state championship Wednesday with a 56-40 victory over Troy in the Southern California Regional.

But for the first time in nearly three months, Narbonne played a second half--in particular, a fourth quarter--that actually mattered.

“This was the first game we’ve played since Santa Barbara [at the Tournament of Champions] where there was real concern we could lose,” Narbonne Coach James Anderson said. “[Troy] don’t want to lose like we don’t want to lose, so you can throw that No. 1 stuff out the window.”

That “No. 1 stuff” is Narbonne’s national ranking in USA Today, but Troy paid no attention to it in the first-round game. With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Narbonne’s lead was single digits, 39-32, and Troy had momentum.

“We wanted it to be a six- or seven-point game going into the fourth,” said Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan, whose team trailed by 15 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

But seven was as close as the Warriors could get. Narbonne’s LaTasha O’Keith got a defensive rebound with five seconds remaining in the third quarter and went coast-to-coast for a score, sparking a 12-0 run that secured Narbonne’s 41st consecutive victory.

Narbonne (31-0) hosts Long Beach Wilson on Friday. Wilson defeated San Diego Section champion Mt. Carmel, 63-47. Troy, the top-ranked team from Orange County, finished 27-5.

The critical run was highlighted by Lisa Willis’ two three-point baskets from the corner, which put too much distance between the Los Angeles City Section champion and the Southern Section Division I-A runner-up.

Willis finished with 11 points, second on her team to Loree Moore, who scored 14 and had eight steals.

Those steals were huge, because they led to eight of her points. The last time she scored off her own steal, it gave Narbonne a 30-15 lead with 1:51 left in the first half.

Then came Troy’s rally, as Veronica Johns-Richardson scored twice and assisted on baskets by freshman center Amanda Livingston (eight points) and the only senior starter, forward Katie Hardeman (nine points, four steals), to cut Narbonne’s lead to 32-23.

“They were definitely a little tougher than we expected,” said USC-bound Ebony Hoffman, who scored nine points and had a game-high 13 rebounds for Narbonne. “They outhustled us, but we came up with the big plays at the end of the game.”

In the second half, Troy was just plain unlucky.

The Warriors, who made only three of 16 three-point shots, often watched the ball rim out. Even shorter shots seemed to find a cap over the basket. Troy was seven for 23 from the field in the second half, two for 11 in the fourth quarter--in which Komaki made only one of four three-pointers.

“If we’re at Troy, those shots go in,” Kiernan said. “At Narbonne, they don’t.

“That’s why you have to play at home.”

Johns-Richardson (53.1%) and Komaki (48.8%) ranked 1-2 in Orange County in three-point shooting during the regular season, and Hardeman (42.3%) was seventh. Against Narbonne, Johns-Richardson was zero for four from the three-point arc, Komaki two for six, and Hardeman one for five.

Johns-Richardson, who had a team-high eight rebounds, scored 14, but only two in the second half; she also had seven assists. Komaki scored eight.

Sophomore Stefanie Schilling, Troy’s third-leading scorer, played sparingly because of a knee injury. But the team effort wasn’t lost on Johns-Richardson, a junior who is one of nine players returning next year.

“We played to win,” she said, “not just survive.”

And Narbonne noticed.