Pluimer Leads San Clemente

Lindsey Pluimer said she didn’t have a great game, but it would be hard to tell from the final score and the championship plaque in her coach’s arm.

Pluimer, a 6-foot-3 junior who started as a freshman and has become San Clemente’s greatest player, led the top-seeded Tritons to their fourth consecutive Southern Section title Saturday at the Pyramid, a 56-53 victory over second-seeded Newhall Hart for the Division I-A championship.

It’s the third year in a row San Clemente (26-4) has defeated Hart (28-2) in the finals.

Pluimer scored 21 points and had nine rebounds, while Hart’s prolific guard, junior Ashlee Trebilcock, scored 34 points.

Pluimer’s game was filled with big plays, but the last one came with 22 seconds left while protecting a one-point lead. Pluimer went down low and, surrounded by three defenders, came up big, scoring off the glass from four feet and giving the Tritons a 56-53 margin.

“You know they’re going to go into her,” said the 5-9 Trebilcock, who guarded Pluimer, “and you do what you can.”

Pluimer said she intended to take over in the final minute.

“I knew there was a lot of pressure riding on the fourth quarter and my team needed me to step up,” said Pluimer, who scored four in the fourth and also had an assist on the basket just before hers, a 12-footer by Lauren Redfield that gave San Clemente a 54-51 lead with 2:28 remaining.

Redfield, who averages eight points, scored 17 against Hart.

-- Martin Henderson