Long Beach Poly Stays Perfect

The road to perfection is paved with good luck, and unbeaten Long Beach Poly traversed that road Tuesday in its victory over Chino Hills Ayala.

Two marquee players for Ayala fouled out, and two players who had done nothing offensively turned into heroes in the final minutes of the second-seeded Jackrabbits’ 42-40 Southern Section Division I-AA semifinal victory at Long Beach City College.

Natasha Gray made her first point of the night on a free throw with 2 minutes 39 seconds remaining to give Poly the last of 12 lead changes, 39-38, and Cynthia Buggs made her only shot with 1:11 to play for what turned out to be an insurmountable 41-38 lead.

“I was feeling a lot of pressure,” said Gray. “I’m one of the worst free-throw shooters on the team.”

Kameca Simmons scored 15 points for Poly, which made only 14 of 28 free throws.

Ayala’s Kia Riley, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, fouled out with 2:39 to go and point guard Jacqulyn Karp fouled out with 19.6 seconds left. That left Ayala’s offense in dire straits.

With fouls to give, Poly let the clock tick down to 13 seconds before fouling again, forcing Ayala to inbound the ball. Unable to get the ball to Brittany Sieger, who had 10 points, reserve Ashley Sumida, who had just entered the game, had her three-point shot blocked by Judith Smith.

“We couldn’t get the ball to [Sieger],” Ayala Coach Mel Sims said. “They were nervous.”

Poly (32-0) will play in its first title game since winning in 1995. Ayala finished 26-5.

Martin Henderson

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Lynwood 80, Long Beach Wilson 76--The top-seeded Knights took the lead for good on Janice Bright’s running bank shot with 1:08 remaining in the Division I-AA semifinal game at Long Beach Millikan.

The Knights (28-0) trailed by as many as eight points in the second half before closing the third quarter on a 13-0 run to take a 56-51 lead. Wilson battled back to take a 63-61 lead on two free throws by Neka Mixon with 4:08 remaining.

After LaJoyce King’s free throw gave Lynwood a 66-65 lead with 2:57 remaining, the lead changed hands six times over the next 1:49 before Bright’s go-ahead bank shot gave the Knights a 75-73 lead.

Sade Wiley-Gatewood scored 30 points to lead Lynwood. Sheila Ho Ching scored 24 points for Long Beach Wilson (26-6).

Dan Arritt

Newhall Hart 63, Westminster 49--Hart trailed, 40-36, late in the third quarter before closing with a 27-9 run to win a Division I-A semifinal at Huntington Beach Ocean View High.

Freshman Ashlee Trebilcock and sophomore Brandi Kimble each had 19 points for the third-seeded Indians (26-4), who advance to their first final since winning consecutive titles in 1989 and ’90.

April Robles scored 16 for second-seeded Westminster (24-5), which was making its first appearance in the semifinals.

Dave Desmond

San Clemente 52, Huntington Beach Edison 39--With the victory at Capistrano Valley, the defending Division I-A champion Tritons (26-3) returned to the finals for the fourth time in five years.

Sophomore center Lindsey Pluimer had 26 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and grabbed 13 rebounds for top-seeded San Clemente, which staved off an aggressive Edison team.

Sara Brown scored 13 and Bianca Ziemann had 11 for the Chargers (20-9).

Tim Dermody

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Playa del Rey St. Bernard 55, Orange Lutheran 43--Alexis Kendricks led St. Bernard (20-7) into the Division IV-AA final with 27 points at El Segundo High.

Santa Fe Springs St. Paul 59, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 50--Crystal Erwin had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead ninth-seeded St. Paul (24-7) in a Division IV-AA semifinal at Whittier College.