Santa Margarita Takes Title

Taking advantage of a considerable size advantage, top-seeded Santa Margarita beat Inglewood Morningside, 54-46, to win the Southern Section Division III-AA title -- the school’s first girls’ basketball title -- as four Eagles scored in double figures Saturday at Azusa Pacific.

Third-seeded Morningside (24-7) missed its first 10 shots and fell behind, 13-0, to open the game.

Only 5-foot-10 senior Twila Stokes, the Southland’s leading rebounder, was as tall as any of Santa Margarita’s starters. She had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and teammate Sonia Miller had 17 points.

That wasn’t enough to match the balance of Santa Margarita (22-6). Georgia Follmer, a 6-3 sophomore, scored 16 points on eight-for-16 shooting, and had 11 rebounds, and 6-2 sophomore Whitney Wood scored 13.

But 5-9 junior Brittany Taylor, who finished with 13 points, might have generated the biggest effort. Three of the five times that Morningside pulled to within six points, she answered with a basket.

Santa Margarita’s only senior, Lauren Powers, scored 10 points, including six in the first quarter as the Eagles opened a 17-10 lead.

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Moreno Valley Canyon Springs 48, Ventura 40 -- Junior Brandi Jones-Fitzgerald scored 18 points and senior Jennifer Risper had 13 with seven assists as the top-seeded Cougars won the Division I-A title, their first girls’ basketball title.

Jones-Fitzgerald was eight of 15 from the field. Risper was only three of 11 but made six of eight free throws for a team that made only nine of 22 from the line.

It was hardly artistic as Canyon Springs (28-3) stretched its winning streak to 23 games since a 65-59 loss to Ventura (27-4) on Dec. 22.

Kali Bennett, Ventura’s 6-5 sophomore, played only seven minutes in the first half and only 18 of the game’s 32 minutes because of foul trouble. She scored 12 points and had eight rebounds and two blocks.

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Fullerton Troy 60, Perris 30 -- Top-seeded Troy (29-2), in the finals for the seventh time in eight seasons, put away its third consecutive title and fourth in five years with another playoff victory over third-seeded Perris.

An 8-0 run gave Troy a 12-2 lead to open the Division II-AA game at Azusa Pacific, and an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter made it 49-25.

Rheya Neabors and Lauren Sims each scored 15 and Rhaya Neabors scored 13 for Troy.

Tay Hester led Perris with 13 points. She had 12 of her team’s 14 points at halftime as Perris (24-8) trailed, 23-14. Troy changed defenses and focused on the senior to hold her in check in the second half.

Troy beat the Panthers in the playoffs for the third consecutive year, including the 2003 title game.

Martin Henderson

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L.A. Marlborough 55, Santa Fe Springs St. Paul 35 -- Freshman guard Nikki Speed came off the bench to score 12 points and steal four passes in leading the top-seeded Mustangs (23-5) to their third consecutive Division IV-AA title at Azusa Pacific.

Marlborough’s only seniors, forward Kerry Madison and guard Emily Tay, were key contributors. Madison had 10 points and nine rebounds and Tay had seven points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Forward Kim Ramirez had nine points and nine rebounds for the sixth-seeded Swordsmen (23-10).

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Santa Maria Valley Christian 59, Huntington Beach Liberty Christian 44 -- Trailing at halftime for the first time all season, Valley Christian responded like the top-seeded team it was.

Lara Hertzog had 22 points and Whitney Mugg added 19 as the Lions (22-5) used a 21-7 run in the third quarter to dethrone defending champion Liberty Christian (18-7) at Azusa Pacific.

Susan Fleming scored 18 points, including four three-pointers, for the third-seeded Minutemen, who led, 27-17, at halftime.

-- Steve Galluzzo