GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Poway Rolls to Another Victory--in Characteristic Fashion

Poway High entered the girls’ basketball season perched as the county’s No. 1 team.

They never strayed from their nest.

Friday night against Rancho Buena Vista in a Division I quarterfinal game, the host Titans looked every bit like No. 1, scoring a 71-45 victory over Rancho Buena Vista (15-13).

Poway (24-3) did it with defense and rebounding, and they did it with one of their starters on the bench with a jammed finger.

Although the 45 points is the most Poway has allowed in its past eight games, the Titans played the fourth quarter without its starters and held a 64-30 lead that eventually reached 67-30, the largest margin of the game.

“They were a great team to start the season and they upped their level of play,” said RBV Coach Jim Bennett, whose team lost twice to Poway in Palomar League play. “It felt like we played a college team.

“If they had wanted to, they could have kept us to three or four shots per quarter.”

Poway Coach Jay Trousdale said that might be stretching it, but he did say his team reached the top--and stayed there--with defense and rebounding.

Poway scored the first 16 points and by the time RBV scored on a pair of free throws, it had managed to get off only one clean shot. Three other shots were blocked, and there were four turnovers, all in the first four minutes.

RBV made only one field goal in the first quarter and six in the first half. By then, it was 41-22.

Poway has been steadily building toward defending its section title, and Trousdale thinks his team still can take it up a notch. So does center Allison Brady, who scored a game-high 26 points.

“We all know this is another step getting to the state playoffs,” Brady said. “We all know we need to play at a higher level. We’ve improved a lot so far and we’ve still got a few more notches we can go.”

Poway forced 25 turnovers, held a 30-19 rebounding edge and limited RBV to only 36 shots.

The two guards who made the defense click benefited on offense. Jamie Shadian scored 17 and Julie Lunardi had 13. The third guard, Stephanie Guerena, was on the bench with a splint on her finger.

“(Defense and rebounding) is something you have to stress from the first day of practice,” Trousdale said. “You’ve got to make it easy for them to see that great defense helps their offense.”

Poway plays the winner of tonight’s Bonita Vista-Fallbrook semifinal.