McCarthy Provides Spark for Bishop Amat

Freshman Kristen McCarthy entered the Southern California Regional Division III girls’ basketball championship game with 3 minutes 25 seconds left in the first quarter with her team trailing, 5-2, and three seconds later knocked down a 16-foot shot that changed the game’s momentum.

La Puente Bishop Amat went on to defeat Bishop Montgomery, 44-37, in the Sports Arena. It was the Lancers’ fourth win of the season over their Del Rey League rivals and 34th in a row this season for the state’s last unbeaten team.

McCarthy, a 5-foot-8 freshman forward averaging 8.5 points, made six of 12 shots, four of four free throws, had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“I felt we were the better team, but they’re a very good team, and to beat a very good team four times is hard to do,” Bishop Amat Coach Richard Wiard said.

“We held their two leading scorers to six for 27 [shooting], and limited their offensive rebounds. That’s where they killed us last time.”

Christen Myles provided solid defense on Bishop Montgomery’s Whitney Warren, who was three of 14 from the field and scored only nine points, nearly half her average.

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Fullerton Troy 49, Spring Valley Mount Miguel 31 -- Defense, rebounding and Sara Yee received most of the credit from Coach Kevin Kiernan after the Warriors (32-2) won their 22nd consecutive game and advanced to their third consecutive Division II state final.

Yee, a 5-0 junior point guard who finished with 10 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals, played a crucial role in a 22-3 run that helped end a 21-game winning streak by Mount Miguel (31-2).

Her three-point basket gave Troy an 8-7 lead and ignited a 22-3 run that gave the Southern Section Division II-AA champion a 27-10 lead. She also drew an offensive foul and had two steals -- all of which led to points.

Yee’s basket opened the middle for twins Rheya (seven points) and Rhaya Neabors (four points), and the rout was on. Cindy Glaser made three three-point shots and led Troy with 13 points.

Martin Henderson

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Brentwood 51, La Jolla County Day 34 -- Playing in their first regional title game, the Eagles (24-6) knocked off the four-time defending Division IV champions -- the team that ended Brentwood’s season in the regional semifinals a year ago -- at Cal State Fullerton.

“We’ve waited so long for this,” said junior guard Tani Brown, who was six of nine from the field for a game-high 13 points.

Brentwood trailed, 10-4, but used an 11-1 run to close out the first quarter and stretched that run to 23-7 by halftime to lead 27-17. Brentwood was able to pull away by frustrating the Torreys (24-7) throughout the game with an aggressive full-court defense that led to 23 turnovers.

Josh Gajewski

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Los Angeles Pacific Hills 54, Palos Verdes Estates Rolling Hills Prep 36 -- J.J. Magbanua had 13 points, five assists and four steals to lead the Bruins (28-4), who held Rolling Hills Prep without a field goal in the first half, to the Division V title at Cal State Fullerton.

“We played zone against them the last time,” Coach Ben Ramos said of his team’s 40-39 victory over the Huskies (21-8) in the Southern Section Division V-AA final last week. “We played them man to man this time and I don’t think they expected it.”

Helen Suarez and Ashleyrose Lewis each had 10 points for Pacific Hills, which scored the first eight points, forced 13 turnovers in the first half and led by as many as 24 points.

-- Mayar Zokaei