Troy Finds Its Way With Livingston on the Bench

Mistakenly given a fifth foul by the official scorer with nearly 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, Amanda Livingston went to the bench on Saturday and Fullerton Troy went to its gut.

The result was a character-building 51-39 victory over Santa Ana Mater Dei in the Southern California Regional Division II girls’ basketball final at Long Beach Arena.

“It appears there was a mistake in the official book,” said tournament director Dean Crowley, after Livingston was whistled for fouls 11 seconds apart in the third quarter, inexplicably jumping from two fouls at halftime to five in the third quarter.

But before the 6-foot-1 UCLA-bound senior sat down, she had scored 14 points and given Troy a 32-18 lead.

“We knew she could play like that,” said Mater Dei guard Jen Rogers, who scored only six points despite averaging 21 in the last four games. “It was a matter of making everyone else beat us.”

The Warriors withstood Mater Dei’s increased defensive pressure behind the ballhandling of freshman Sara Yee and sophomores Sunshine Atuatasi and Nicole Hayman, who had 13 points. After Mater Dei cut its deficit to 39-31, Troy freshman Lauren Sims made her only shot, a three-pointer, with 5:19 left.

Atuatasi followed with a three-pointer for a 45-32 advantage with 3:36 left, but the Monarchs (23-7) could get no closer than eight points, 45-37.

Junior Meghan McGuire, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds, made all six of her free throws in the final minute for Troy. Chanel Foster scored 12 for Mater Dei.

Troy (30-2) will play in its first state title game, at 6 p.m. Friday at Arco Arena in Sacramento, against Vacaville (31-2).

-- Martin Henderson

Torrance Bishop Montgomery 60, San Diego Mission Bay 41 -- Noelle Quinn had 31 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Knights to their fourth consecutive Division III regional championship and seventh overall with the victory at Long Beach Arena.

Quinn, who signed with UCLA, sparked an 18-4 run in the second quarter that brought three-time defending state champion Bishop Montgomery (26-7) back from a three-point deficit, and the Knights’ lead was never threatened.

Quinn’s three-point play tied the score, 17-17, and she then scored six more points in the run to help the Knights to a 32-21 halftime lead.

“I just didn’t want to lose today,” said Quinn, The Times’ player of the year last season who led the team with four assists, three blocks and five steals.

“She’s a great player,” said 6-4 center Amber Sprague of Mission Bay (23-3). “She has a great all-around game and is hard to stop.”

Sprague finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Knights will play San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral (25-8) in the state final at 1 p.m. Saturday at Arco Arena.

-- Dan Arritt

La Jolla Country Day 62, L.A. Marlborough 42 -- A move up in divisions has had little effect on Country Day, the two-time defending state Division V champion, which took a 34-12 halftime lead and cruised to the Division IV regional championship at Cal State Fullerton.

Junior Candice Wiggins had 31 points and 11 rebounds for the top-seeded Torreys (27-4), who advance to play Stockton St. Mary’s at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Arco Arena.

Sophomore guard Emily Tay scored 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter, when Marlborough (26-6) cut a 22-point deficit to 42-31. But it made only four of 18 shots in the fourth quarter.

San Luis Obispo Mission Prep 56, Visalia Central Valley Christian 19 -- For the second time in eight days, the top-seeded Royals (24-5) routed their Central Section rivals and claimed the Division V regional title at Fullerton.

Katherine Suderman had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Lauren Tietje had 14 points and nine rebounds and Kara Dale added 10 points for Mission Prep.

Mission Prep, seeking its first state championship, will play San Francisco Convent of the Sacred Heart (28-3) at 2 p.m. Friday at Arco Arena.

-- Dave Desmond