SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Alemany Shows Poise, Holds Off El Dorado’s Rallies

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  Mission Hills Alemany had too much height and too much poise in the stretch for El Dorado Wednesday night, defeating the second-seeded Golden Hawks, 62-55, in a Division III-AA girls’ basketball semifinal at Harvard Westlake High.

El Dorado (27-3) had trouble getting off good shots in the first quarter, because of Alemany’s height and zone defense and fell behind, 17-8. Nicole DeBruijn didn’t make El Dorado’s first field goal until 3 minutes 3 seconds remained in the first quarter. For the rest of the evening, the Golden Hawks played catch-up. Every time they did, Alemany came through with the big plays.

“We always played a bad quarter in every game this year,” El Dorado Coach Gary Raya said. “We struggled but were still in the game. We never gave up, though. We don’t quit.”

The Golden Hawks fought back to tie the score, 37-37, on Kim Korsmeier’s basket with 3:44 left in the third quarter. But Alemany, which won the Division II-A championship last season, pulled ahead 45-40 with 1:05 left in the third quarter on two baskets by Kathy Brown.

Alemany (25-4), which will face Inglewood Morningside in Saturday’s division final at Loyola Marymount, took a 54-47 fourth-quarter lead, but the Golden Hawks fought back again.

Shanna Renken’s three-point play and Jody Caruso’s free throw with 1:30 left narrowed Alemany’s lead to 58-55. Alemany’s Carly Funicello, a 6-foot-2 freshman, scored from underneath with 55 seconds left. El Dorado’s Jamie Sweet missed an uncontested three-point shot. Alemany’s Kelly McKay hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining to ice the game.

Brown had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Zevette Mitchell had 12 points and Rigley had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Alemany.