San Clemente Quietly Defeats Esperanza

The subject can still be a touchy one among teammates who wondered just what Debby Caine meant in the preseason.

Coming from Woodbridge, where she had won a state title, Caine said she hoped to teach her new San Clemente teammates how to win.

Teammate Colleen Turnbull had no comment on the subject after second-ranked San Clemente’s 58-54 nonleague victory over third-ranked Esperanza. But it would be hard for the Tritons, trying to win its first league title, to avoid learning something from Caine.

Caine, a shooting/point guard, had 18 points and eight rebounds. She converted the critical fourth-quarter three-point basket that devastated the Aztecs (8-6). Her two free throws with seven seconds left gave the Tritons a four-point lead.

It helped San Clemente (14-3) avoid its third consecutive loss.

“I didn’t want to tell the kids it was a must-win game, but I felt that way,” San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan said. “The worse thing we could have done was go into [South Coast] League with three losses in a row.”

Turnbull, guarded by Leah Combs, was effectively shut down for the first time this season. She finished with 10 points, 5.8 below her average, but Taryn Commins scored 12 and Marissa Ficklin had six as a reserve.

“This group has been together since fifth grade. This was going to be their year whether [Caine] came or not,” Mulligan said. “We’ll never know what they could have accomplished without her and I don’t really care.

“To me, if Debby Caine wasn’t in there, someone else would be.”

There were 14 ties or lead changes in the second and third quarters, the last on Caine’s 15-footer at the buzzer with Beth Weidler in her face. It gave San Clemente a 45-44 lead.

Leading early in the fourth, 49-46, Caine popped her second three-point basket (spurring a 6-1 run) and Esperanza couldn’t get within three points until the final minute.

“It was tough to come back after that,” said Esperanza Coach Marc Hill, whose team ran down against San Clemente’s up-tempo pace and had trouble setting up its offense against the Triton press.

Combs was held to seven points, though Allison Gerber scored 17 and Weidler had 11.