Warriors’ Streak Remains Intact

The record is real. The unbeaten streak is intact. Woodbridge is the team to beat in the Sea View League.

The Warriors, ranked No. 6 in Orange County, showed their perfect record is no fluke Tuesday with a 49-40 Sea View League victory over fourth-ranked Irvine.

Woodbridge (20-0, 4-0), which is vying for its 14th league title, dropped Irvine to 15-5, 3-1.

“We finally got a big game in,” said senior Lara Gray, who had 12 points and eight rebounds. “We’ve been having such wide [margins of victory], it’s fun to get in these close situations, knowing you have to play a full 32 minutes.”

Woodbridge won with defense and depth, the latter a distinct advantage over the seven-member Vaqueros. Woodbridge used eight players in the first quarter alone.

Stephanie Marks, a junior forward, came off the bench and scored eight points and had seven rebounds. Another backup, sophomore Michelle Sanford, added seven points, five rebounds and two steals.

“Any points we get from Michelle is a bonus,” said Eric Bangs, Woodbridge’s coach.

Bonus night at Woodbridge included intense pressure defense that kept Irvine’s guards from getting into the flow of the game. Kelsi Sousa, who scored 11, had five steals, and Alia Stewart had nine rebounds. Sanford, Kathryn Geneau and Lindsay Yocum dogged Irvine’s backcourt combo.

“They just overwhelmed us,” said guard Staci Morita, who scored nine points, six in the final four minutes. “We weren’t executing our offense. We were getting rattled. . . .”

Irvine got 14 points and 13 rebounds from Jody Carlson, and 13 points from Kristin Thawley, but only eight of their combined points came in the second half. The Vaqueros led at halftime, 24-21, but hit the skids in the third quarter. Morita overthrew wide-open Nikki Kamada for a sure fastbreak layup, then Morita had a shot rim out and Ali Grechko’s follow did the same thing, and one thing led to another.

Then came a flurry. Yocum’s steal and layup tied the score at 28-28, Gray’s steal and layup gave Woodbridge its first lead with 5:17 left in the third, Marks scored on a rebound. Woodbridge scored eight points off steals in its 14-0 run, holding a 42-30 lead with 4:12 left.

They took the lead and we couldn’t answer,” Irvine Coach Dennis Hurley said. “Their kids stepped up. The kids we said had to beat us did.”

In another league game:

Aliso Niguel 37, Newport Harbor 30--Julia Pederson scored 17 points for the Wolverines (15-5, 1-3). Jillianne Whitfield and Evita Castillo scored 11 points each for Newport Harbor (2-19, 0-4).