Brea Beats Santana, Sets Up Rematch With Redondo

Chelsea Trotter scored 17 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and led Brea Olinda to a 61-38 victory over Santee Santana in the Southern California Regional girls’ basketball semifinals Thursday night.

The victory by Brea (27-6) sets up a rematch of last Saturday’s Southern Section Division II-AA title game, won by Redondo Beach Redondo Union, 55-46. The Seahawks beat San Diego University City, 60-35, in the other semifinal.

The teams meet Saturday at the Great Western Forum for the right to advance to the state title game.

Santana, which had won 18 in a row en route to the San Diego Section championship, finished 27-6.

“My foremost fear before the game was not getting another chance at Redondo,” Trotter said of the team that snapped Brea’s 17-game winning streak. “I know this team’s history. It’s up and down. We can play like we did when we beat Hanford, or we can play like we did against Redondo.

“If we come to play psychologically . . . that’s the question mark.”

There was no question about Brea’s focus against Santana (27-6).

The Sultans, the San Diego Section champion, had no match for Trotter, a 6-foot-3 forward bound for Stanford. She scored 10 in the first half as the Ladycats stretched a 10-8 first-quarter lead to 30-18 at halftime. The Ladycats didn’t coddle Santana in the third quarter, either. They opened with a 13-6 run after closing the first half with a 13-4 run.

Jackie Lord scored 14, and Robyn Phillips benefited from the double team against Trotter with 10 points.

Brea made 27 of 54 shots from the field. Santana made 17 of 57.

Trotter, who had five assists and three blocked shots, also held Kathryn Wynne to 10 points, five fewer than her average, and just three rebounds--all in the second quarter. Wynne averaged 15.2 rebounds per game.

Brea’s defense limited Santana to only one of 13 from the three-point arc. Sharpshooter Jaime Ransom, who scored 23 against Pacifica on Tuesday, scored four.