Eagles fall in OT

Bryce Alderton

The Estancia High girls basketball team hit a dry spell at the

most inopportune time -- overtime Friday evening.

The Eagles (3-1) committed four turnovers in the extra period and

didn’t score until Xochitl Byfield’s second of two three-pointers, at

the buzzer to make the final score, 51-47 Esperanza.

The 3-1 Aztecs advance to the championship game today of the South

Coast Holiday Classic at University High. Estancia plays for third

place at 6 p.m. today against the winner of Santa Margarita-Laguna

Hills played later Friday night.

Estancia attempted to bounce pass the ball into the post to Nancy

Castro and Trisha Gray, but the Aztecs were a step quicker in getting

to the ball, which led to two layups off steals.

Gray played for the first time in a week since she injured her

right ankle in practice Dec. 6.

“We wanted to run an offense and that’s the option they chose to

hit,” said Eagle Coach Tamette Rappa about the Eagles’ offensive set

in the overtime. “The kids like to get the ball in to Trisha in those

pressure situations because they know she’s one of our best players.”

Gray played the part, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds (Byfield

also collected nine boards) while scoring four points.

But it was the Aztecs who took the rebounding edge, gaining 38

boards (20 offensive) compared to Estancia’s 29, and many of the

Aztec misses resulted in easy put backs.

Esperanza fired 81 shots but only hit on 21 (26%) while Estancia

shot 38% (20-52).

Tisha Wase, who also played on a sore ankle, scored a team-high 15

points and grabbed five rebounds. She led the Eagles’ charge up the

floor on a number of fast breaks but got into foul trouble and

eventually fouled out with just over three minutes remaining.

Reyna Garcia filled in admirably at point, but with Wase out,

Estancia’s attack was clearly hurt.

“With Wase out that takes away one of our strengths,” Rappa said.

“We did not play smart basketball tonight. We fell apart, got

frustrated and couldn’t get our composure.”

Both coaches had to hold on to their composure throughout a

back-and-forth game that saw the Aztecs lead by as much as nine with

6:47 remaining in the first quarter before Estancia went on a 15-5

run to close out the period to take a one-point lead at halftime.

Imelda Pena came off the bench to hit two threes and scored on a

transition layup while Wase added two points and dished an assist on

one of Pena’s treys.

The Eagles scored the first seven points of the third period on

two Wase free throws, a Byfield three and a Gray layup before going

scoreless for the next 4:46. Five turnovers in that span helped the

Aztecs reduce the gap and both teams headed into the fourth quarter

tied, 38-38.

“I’ve never been in a game where we missed so many layups,” said

Aztec Coach Marc Hill. “Both teams have similar styles, both are blue

collar-type teams.”

South Coast Holiday Classic

Semifinal

Esperanza 51, Estancia 47

Score by Periods

Esperanza 14 12 12

6 7 -- 51

Estancia 8 19 11

6 3 -- 47

Esperanza -- Jones 10, Galassi 9, Clark 11, Torrez 14,

Scarff 2, Roberts 3, Felbab 2, Berberet 0.

3-pt. goals -- Torrez 2, Roberts 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Estancia -- Gray 4, Byfield 10, Castro 8, Mino 2, Wase 15, Pena 7,

Garcia 0, Flores 0, Wilson 0.

3-pt. goals -- Pena 2, Byfield 2.

Fouled out -- Wase.

Sage Hills eyes title

Sage Hill High’s girls basketball team ran its record to 5-0 and

will duel the Encino-based Holy Martyrs Amens or the Whitney Wildcats

from Cerritos at 2:30 p.m. today at the Fairmont Tournament in

Anaheim.

Sage Hill disposed of Connelly’s Koalas in Friday’s semifinal,

51-29, with a 17-2 burst in the second quarter breaking it open.

“We picked it up and looked to our post,” said Sage Hill Coach

Shaunna Renken.

Haywood Wright, a 6-foot freshman, led the way for the Lightning

with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Katie Puishys, a 6-1 sophomore, had eight points and seven rebounds, and the Clark sisters, Carrie and

Carley, each had five assists.

Fairmont Tournament

Semifinal

Sage Hill 51, Connelly 29

Score by Quarters

Sage Hill 10 17 16

8 - 51

Connelly 9 2 7

11 - 29

Sage Hill -- Carrie Clark 6, Carley Clark 3, Gutierrez

4, Wright 20, Puishys 8, Yoder-Lee 2, Kawamura 0.

3-pt. goals -- Carley Clark 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.

Connelly -- Thomas 4, Ortigaza 2, Roldan 0, Calum 15,

Comstock-Jones 0, Lazzari 4, Breseno 4, Stepnitz 0, Schmidt 0.

3-pt. goals -- Calum 3.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals - none.

Barkalow gets first win

The Corona del Mar High girls basketball team held Los Alamitos to

eight second-half points and provided Sea King Coach James Barkalow

with his first win at the school in pool play of the Western

Tournament Friday in Anaheim.

The Sea Kings (1-3) outscored Los Alamitos, 12-2 in the third

quarter to extend their 20-12 halftime lead to a 32-14 advantage.

“We came out and played tough defense,” Barkalow said. “We try to

hold teams to under 30 points, if we can do that we’ll be OK. We met

our goal.”

CdM seniors Jackie McCoy scored 11 points and Kelliann Klein had

seven.

CdM completes play in the Western Tournament today at 12:30 p.m.

Western Tournament

Pool play

CdM 40, Rancho Alamitos 20

Score By Quarters

R. Alamitos 8 4 2

6 -- 20

CdM 16 4 12

8 -- 40

Rancho Alamitos -- Alvarez 3, Whitney 4, Soriano 2, C.

Nguyen 4, P. Nguyen 7.

3-pt. goals -- Alvarez 1, P. Nguyen 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.

Corona del Mar -- McCoy 11, Dimas 0, Otterbein 6, Klein 7, C.

Marks 2, Snell 5, Heeschen 4, Stern 3, Yardley 2, A. Marks 0, Skalla

0.

3-pt. goals -- Stern 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.