Haneef Gets Free In Time to Lead Laguna Hills to a Victory

Lemoore managed to keep Tayyiba Haneef off the boards in the first half, but the Tigers could not keep her from doing much else.

Haneef made seven of eight shots in the first half as Laguna Hills built a 25-point lead to defeat Lemoore, 71-43, in the Division II Southern California Regionals on Tuesday at Laguna Hills.

Laguna Hills will host Moorpark, an 81-67 winner over Santee Santana in the next round.

At 6 feet 6, Haneef was nearly a foot taller than Lemoore center Sarah Jones, but she used more than her height advantage to score 14 points in the first half. Haneef hit three soft jumpers, and showed good hands on a fast break early in the second quarter that put the Hawks up, 20-10.

“Tayyiba really showed her athleticism in the first half,” Laguna Hills Coach Lynn Taylor said. “She made some nice saves on passes, especially on that fast break.”

Haneef scored 25 points, Whitney Houser had 14 and Tamara Inoue had 13 for the Hawks.

Mary Tims and Inoue each scored four points, and Haneef had six to account for the Hawks’ 14-8 lead after the first quarter.

Lemoore (21-7) scored its last basket of the second quarter with nearly six minutes remaining to make the score 23-12. The Hawks (27-3) answered with a 14-0 run.

Houser started it with two free throws with 5:46 remaining, followed by two jumpers from Haneef.

Tims hit a 15-footer from the top of the key to make it 31-12. Houser got loose for a three-point play, and Tims then scored her 10th point of the half on a three-pointer to cap the run.

As pretty as it looked, Taylor saw some areas to improve.

“I thought our passing was pretty sloppy out there,” he said. “I already know what we will be working on in practice tomorrow.”

Despite being outrebounded 11-3 in the first quarter, Laguna Hills finished with a 32-26 advantage.

San Diego Horizon 69, Capistrano Valley Christian 48--Katrina Vestal scored 25 points as San Diego Horizon defeated Capistrano Valley Christian in the first round of the Division V regionals. Horizon (23-8) has won 20 of its last 21 games.

Horizon plays the winner of L.A. Pilgrim-El Cajon Christian.

Gini Joy Carney and Hayley Hall each scored 13 points for Capistrano Valley Christian (23-7). Aurora Cerne had 10 points for the Eagles.