Tulikihihifo Comes Back for Redondo

By Ofa Tulikihihifo’s admission, she played poorly in the first half of Redondo Union’s Southern California Regional Division II girls’ basketball final Saturday.

At halftime, she was read the Riot Act by Coach Marcello Enriquez.

“I was so frustrated, yelling at my teammates and myself,” Tulikihihifo said. “[Enriquez] asked if this is the way I wanted to go out, pouting and giving up.”

Tulikihihifo responded by scoring the first two baskets of the second half, sparking a 12-2 run and leading Redondo to its first state championship game with a 53-39 victory over Fullerton Troy at Long Beach Arena.

Tulikihihifo, a 5-foot-9 senior, had all 14 of her points and eight of her 13 rebounds in the second half as the Sea Hawks stretched a 17-14 halftime lead to 29-15. By the time Troy used defensive pressure to score a few fourth-quarter transition baskets, Redondo had built a 36-21 lead.

The closest Troy (29-4) pulled within was 45-38 with 1:24 remaining as senior Alicia Komaki, who missed her first 10 shots, scored all of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.

The Sea Hawks (26-7) play Stockton St. Mary’s, a 66-54 winner over Los Altos Hills Pinewood in the Northern Regional final, for the state title at 6 p.m. Friday in Sacramento. Redondo defeated Pinewood, 51-41, on Dec. 19, when Tulikihihifo was recovering from torn ligaments in her right knee. Krista Areyan scored 12 points and Jennifer Owens eight for Redondo.

Martin Henderson

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Playa del Rey St. Bernard 56, La Jolla The Bishop’s 46--Georgia-bound senior guard Alexis Kendricks scored 13 of her game-high 24 points in the second half and St. Bernard beat the defending state champion in the Division IV regional final at Long Beach City College.

The Vikings (23-7) will face Kentfield Marin Catholic--a 60-47 winner over Santa Rosa Ursuline in the Northern Regional final--in the state championship game at 2 p.m. Friday at Sacramento’s Arco Arena.

The Vikings got there by knocking off the team that eliminated them in the regional semifinals last season.

“Last year when they dissed us, we said we weren’t going to let it happen again, so we returned the favor,” said St. Bernard center Shannon Clay, who had 12 points.

St. Bernard took control of the game in the second half, turning a 27-21 halftime edge into a 13-point advantage by scoring the first seven points of the third quarter.

The Bishop’s (27-4), which graduated four seniors from last season’s title team and had only one on this squad, trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half.

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La Jolla Country Day 63, Los Angeles Pilgrim 37--Guards Brittany James and Amber Cunningham combined for 35 points for Pilgrim (28-4) in the Division V regional final at Long Beach City College.

James made seven of 11 shots and had 18 points and eight rebounds. But the Patriots fell behind early and never recovered.

Candice Wiggins, a 5-11 sophomore guard and the daughter of the late major league baseball player Alan Wiggins, scored 23 of her game-high 37 points in the second half for Country Day (26-5).

Lauren Peterson