Lord Answers the Call, Brea Wins a Close One

With three starters having fouled out and her team unable to match the inside game of Moreno Valley, Jackie Lord stepped up Monday for Brea Olinda.

Lord made a three-point basket from 23 feet with 45 seconds left, then added three free throws in the final 11 seconds to lift the Ladycats to a 42-38 victory in the fourth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. girls’ basketball Classic at UC Riverside.

Lord was mostly spectacular, scoring 27 points, including six three-point baskets, as Brea defeated the top-ranked team in Riverside County.

Moreno Valley, which is also ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section Division I-AA rankings dropped to 11-4.

Brea, ranked third in Orange County and No. 1 in Division II-AA, is 10-4.

Brea Olinda Coach Jeff Sink said his team--which lost starters Carrie Noyes with 4 minutes 32 seconds remaining, Daveri Bonnewitz with 1:17 and Jennifer Katsuyama with 39 seconds--benefited from having played a tough national schedule over winter break.

“You have to do it if you want to win in March,” Sink said.

And apparently, mid-January.

Brea’s defense forced 20 turnovers, and the production of California-bound Lord negated Moreno Valley’s two Division I prospects. Andrea Billis, a 6-3 center who will attend Oregon, scored 24 points--she was 10 of 17 from three throw line. UCLA-bound junior forward Emma Tautolo scored two.

Lord made three shots from 23 feet or beyond, but the big one was with 45 seconds left, when she banked one off the glass.

“I think my eyes were closed,” Lord joked. “That was our biggest win of the year. We knew they were more talented, bigger, stronger, quicker than us. Us little guards had to play with more passion.”

Outside of Bonnewitz, who scored eight points, no other Ladycat scored more than three.

In another tournament games:

Troy 41, La Jolla The Bishop’s 27--For the second consecutive game, fifth-ranked Troy won with its defense, forcing 19 turnovers. In doing so, the Warriors (13-4) beat San Diego County’s top-ranked team, which fell to 13-3.

Troy, which outscored Sonora, 27-0, in the third quarter of its game Friday, didn’t allow The Bishop’s to break double digits in any quarter. The Warriors held The Bishop’s to two points in the first quarter, but only led, 16-10, at halftime.

Amanda Livingston scored 11 points and Kianey Givens-Davis had nine points and 10 rebounds for Troy.

Riverside North 49, San Clemente 44--The Tritons (15-3), ranked No. 2 in Orange County, blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and were outscored 23-8.

“We totally relaxed, we got very casual with the ball,” San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan said.

Megan Blackshire scored 14 points.

In a nonleague game:

No. 8 Rosary 58, Foothill 56 (OT)--Gayle Sonoda scored the winning basket with less than 10 seconds left in overtime. Emily Beaubelle of Foothill tied the score with two free throws to put the game into overtime.

Senior Jen Farner and Jennie Asensio had 18 points each for Rosary (16-6). Kristen Mann had 25 points for Foothill (11-8).