City Section Girls Are Not Sob Sisters Anymore, 71-69

The City Section, often viewed as the weak sisters when it comes to girls’ basketball, stood up to its Southern Section nemesis on Saturday night.

Loser of the previous four Valley Sports Foundation Battle of the Valley all-star games, the City out-scrapped and outhustled the Southern Section to claim a 71-69 victory before a near-capacity crowd at Cal State Northridge.

“This is great for the City,” said guard Christina Aguinaga of Taft High, who led the City with 15 points. “We proved to everyone that we’re just as tough.”

The City broke a 69-69 tie when Denisha McCoy of Taft made a free throw with 21 seconds left. Karen Shun of El Camino Real added another free throw with four seconds left.

Jennifer Lacy of Agoura tried to tie the score for the Southern Section but couldn’t get off a shot before the final buzzer.

Guard Ryan Rene of Van Nuys scored 11 points and forwards Richelle Sherman of North Hollywood, the City’s most valuable player, and Shun each added 10.

Lacy and Crystal McCutcheon of Antelope Valley, both bound for Pepperdine, dominated for the Southern Section.

Lacy had nine points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. McCutcheon, the Southern Section’s MVP, finished with a game-high 18 points and had 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals.

McCutcheon, The Times’ Valley player of the year, tied the score, 69-69, with 30 seconds left on a baseline jumper.

Jacquana Young of Antelope Valley scored 11 points and Bridget Harris of Newbury Park had seven points and seven rebounds.

Karina Siam, who led Harvard-Westlake to the Southern Section Division III-AA title, won a halftime three-point shootout over Victoria Wong of El Camino Real.

Southern Section 112, City Section 107--The Southern Section overcame a 97-96 deficit with an 11-1 run.

Gonzaga-bound center Dustin Villepigue of Simi Valley, the Southern Section’s MVP, scored 20 points.

Future West Coast Conference rival Cody Pearson of Notre Dame, who will walk-on to Pepperdine, scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half.

Michael Jenkins of St. Francis finished with 13 points, seven on second-half free throws.

Cecil Brown of Canoga Park, who led the region with a 34.5 scoring average, scored a game-high 26. The 6-foot-4 forward, who has committed to UC Santa Barbara, was the City’s MVP.

George O’Garro of Sylmar won the halftime slam dunk competition, posting two perfect 10s. He had five dunks in the game and finished with 16 points.

Shayne Berry of Chatsworth scored 16 points, Derrick Lambrey of Cleveland had 12 points and Mike Mgdesyan of Poly had 10.