Southern Section Girls 3-A : Brea-Olinda Upset in Final, 63-34 : McFerson’s Career-High 28 Points Sparks Foothill to Title

The Brea-Olinda High School girls’ basketball team discovered Friday night how most of its opponents must have felt during the season.

The Wildcats, who routinely beat teams by 30 points on their way to a 29-0 record and the Southern Section 3-A championship game, found themselves on the other end of a lopsided score Friday night.

Foothill, which had lost to Brea in the championship game of the Wildcats’ Christmas tournament, completely dominated the rematch in the Long Beach Arena to come away with an easy, 63-34, victory and its first Southern Section girls’ basketball title.

The Wildcats chose a most inopportune time to play their worst game of the season.

How bad was it?

--Foothill center Chris McFerson, who finished with a game-high 28 points, nearly outscored the entire Brea team. While McFerson sat out the fourth period, the Wildcats finally surpassed the 28-point mark with 2:50 remaining in the game.

--The Knights outscored the Wildcats, 25-4, in the third period to build a 30-point lead. They shot 45% (27 of 60) from the field, while the Wildcats hit on only 15 of 57 attempts for 26%.

--Brea had scored a grand total of six points in the second half until it reeled off eight straight against the Foothill reserves in the final three minutes.

--The Wildcats, known for their up-tempo offense, scored just one fast-break basket on the night. They also committed 17 turnovers, compared to Foothill’s 9.

This was Brea’s third consecutive appearance in a Southern Section championship game, and all have ended in similar fashion.

The Wildcats lost to Artesia by 20 points in the 1983 2-A final and lost to Indio by 14 in last year’s 2-A final. Their luck didn’t change in the 3-A division.

“I don’t understand this,” Brea Coach Mark Trakh said. “Every time we get here, this happens. But I have no excuses tonight. Even if we had played a great game, Foothill would have beaten us.”

Trakh could sum up the Wildcats’ biggest dilemma in two words: Chris McFerson. Foothill’s 6-foot 1-inch junior was simply unstoppable Friday night.

McFerson scored all of her baskets on inside shots and follow shots and added two free throws. She had a game-high 13 rebounds, blocked 3 shots and made 4 steals.

She had averaged only eight points a game this year, and her 28-point performance was a career-high. Trakh, who watched McFerson score 19 points and grab 13 rebounds against the Wildcats in the first meeting, was the least surprised.

“She averages eight against everyone else and 26 against Brea,” he said. “She killed us. Their whole team pounded us on the boards and did a tremendous job. We were never in the game.”

That was apparent early on, when Brea’s best shooter, Carrie Egan, missed her first eight shots before connecting on two jumpers in the second quarter. Foothill led, 31-19, at halftime but blew the game open when it scored the first eight points (six by McFerson) of the third period.

Then, after Brea’s Charlene Scheusler made a jump shot, the Knights scored the next 13 points for a 52-21 lead.

The Knights had blown an eight-point, fourth-quarter lead to the Wildcats in December, but there was no way they could let this one slip away.

“We were ready to play, and we really wanted Brea,” Foothill Coach Sheila Adams said. “We knew we could beat them, and we wanted to show them who was No. 1.

“We were mentally tough, and everyone was ready to play. No matter what they did, there was no way they were going to beat us.”

Jill Osur added nine points for the Knights, and twin Jennifer, who had averaged more than 20 points a game during the playoffs, finished with 8. Point guard Felice Geddy had 7 points and 7 assists, and forward Stacy Barnes scored 7.

Jodi Kleber was the only Brea player to finish in double figures with 10 points.