Vaqueros Advance to Final

The Irvine girls’ basketball team has reached the Southern Section Division I-AA championship game for the first time in school history.

The Vaqueros defeated Murrieta Valley, 59-41, Tuesday in the semifinals at Concordia University. Irvine (24-6) plays San Clemente in Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. title game at the Pyramid at Long Beach State.

Irvine, which beat Murrieta Valley (20-9) three times this season, now faces San Clemente for the third time. The teams split their two previous meetings.

Kristin Thawley scored 16 points, Staci Morita had 15 and Jody Carlson had nine points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Vaqueros. Thawley and Morita each had eight rebounds.

Ali Grechko shook off a sluggish start to finish with 11 points and three steals.

“Ali was a big key,” said Irvine co-Coach Joni Colburn. “We knew she would eventually come around. She began collapsing in the post and her defense sparked her offense.”

Rachel Woodward, Murrieta Valley’s 6-foot-2 USC-bound forward, had 16 points and 17 rebounds, but didn’t score in the second half. She scored 24 and 29 points in the first two meetings.

“In the first half we played a two-three zone and a box-and-one and she just tore us apart,” Colburn said. “We told the kids we needed to be more physical and deny her the ball.”

Irvine led, 19-11, one minute into the second quarter but Woodward and Ashley Haggerty ignited a rally that closed the gap to 30-29 shortly before intermission.

The Vaqueros stretched their three-point halftime lead to nine by limiting the Nighthawks (20-9) to two third-quarter points, and put away the game with a 13-0 fourth-quarter run.