SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION III-AA GIRLS’ BASKETBALL : Mission Hills Alemany Tops Estancia

Last season’s Division II-A champion Mission Hills Alemany capitalized on Estancia’s abysmal first quarter and kept the lead, winning, 41-29, in the Southern Section Division III-AA quarterfinals Saturday at Estancia.

Both teams finished second in their respective leagues. But Saturday, they appeared to have little else in common.

Alemany (24-4) used tight defense, a varied offense, ball control and a lot of passing to take a 12-2 lead in the first quarter. Estancia did not score for the first seven minutes.

Estancia (16-10) traveled, missed passes and incurred three-second violations for eight first-quarter turnovers.

“It was really frustrating,” Estancia Coach Russ Davis said. “They were just too big physically for us. That made us struggle on offense.”

The average height of both teams’ starting lineups is 5-feet-8, but two Alemany players, Barbara Ward and Zevette Mitchell, are 6 feet tall, and Samantha Rigley is 5-10. Although there are no Estancia starters shorter than 5-7, none is taller than 5-10.

The Indians held a 22-10 lead at the half, but Estancia revived in the third quarter. The Eagles stepped up their offense, got more rebounds and played better defense.

Meanwhile, Alemany’s defense sagged, and its shooting dropped from 34% in the first half to 18% in the third quarter. With 2:43 left, the Eagles reduced the deficit to four points, 28-24, and Alemany called a time out.

“Calm down, relax,” Alemany Coach Melissa Melton told her team. “Run your offense and move your feet.”

Alemany held Estancia scoreless for almost six minutes in the fourth quarter, limiting the Eagles to five points during the period.

“We played very poorly,” Melton said. “We had a bad week of practice for a lot of reasons. (Estancia) made a strong run in the third quarter, and fortunately we finally rose to the occasion.”

Mitchell led the Indians with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Rigley added 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Karla Dominguez scored nine for Estancia, and Cyndi Richards added eight points, with eight rebounds.

In Division III-AA quarterfinals:

El Dorado 53, South Torrance 37--Jodi Caruso scored 17 points and Shanna Renken had 10 for El Dorado (24-2), which will face Alemany in the semifinals. Stephanie Pfau led South Torrance (14-11) with 16 points.

Newport Harbor 67, La Puente Bassett 44--Michaela Ross scored 30 points and Genevieve Evarts had 11 for Newport Harbor (20-6), which will meet Inglewood Morningside in the semifinals.