Prep Basketball Championship Games : SoCal Girls’ Division I : Point Loma Beats Delano, 59-49, for 56th Win in Row

Less than two minutes in the second half, Point Loma’s Terri Mann picked up her fourth foul.

Mann, the Pointers’ star sophomore center, went to the bench with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 6 steals and 8 blocks.

Was Point Loma Coach Lee Trepanier worried his team’s 36-28 lead was in jeopardy?

“Hey, I play all my girls,” Trepanier said after Point Loma’s 59-49 victory over Delano in the Southern California girls’ Division I championship game Saturday at the Sports Arena.

“I expect whoever I put in to play hard,” said Trepanier, whose team from the San Diego Section won its 56th straight game.

With Mann on the sideline, Michelle Collum took over. Collum, a 5-11 junior, worked her way inside for three baskets within two minutes to increase Point Loma’s advantage to 44-36.

Delano, the Central Section champion, closed to within, 45-42, after three quarters. But the Tigers were unable take the lead during Mann’s absence.

The 6-1 Mann, nicknamed “Baby Moses,” returned to start the fourth quarter and immediately hit a short jumper. Point Loma outscored Delano, 7-1, at the start of the quarter and five points was as close as Delano got the rest of the way.

Mann finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocks. Collum had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Chanelle McCoy led Point Loma with 23 points.

McCoy, the 5-2 junior point guard, hit several long jumpers, including two in the final quarter to keep Delano at bay.

Point Loma, 27-0, meets Wilson of San Francisco next Saturday in Oakland for the State championship. Wilson defeated Woodland, 55-42, Saturday.

Point Loma, which won the Division II title last season, never trailed after being behind, 13-11, five minutes into the game. The Pointers led, 19-17, after the first quarter and 32-28 at the half.

Delano, which ended the season at 26-2, was led by center Shelly Wallace with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Susan Lowry added had 17 for Delano, which was outrebounded, 44-28.