Girls’ Basketball: CdM wins league

The second league title in program history wouldn’t come easily for the Corona del Mar High girls’ basketball team.

A 15-point lead had been cut to two near the end of Thursday’s Pacific Coast League finale against Northwood, when senior forward Maria King stepped to the free-throw line in the final minute.

King had missed two free throws earlier in the fourth quarter. This time, she calmly sank both, pushing CdM’s lead back to four.

King, a four-year varsity player, had been waiting a long time for that league title, all the way from a last-place finish in league during her freshman year.

The league title finally arrived in 2015. How sweet it was for Corona del Mar.

The Sea Kings hung on for a 52-49 victory over the Timberwolves, clinching a share of that second league crown, the first since 1999-2000. CdM got to celebrate after Amani Tristan’s last-second shot at the buzzer, which was a two-point attempt anyway as her foot was on the line, banked harmlessly off the backboard for Northwood.

After the win, CdM celebrated its senior night prior to the boys’ game, as King, guard Brianna Westrup and forward Alexa Pridemore all were recognized. There were a lot of smiles to go around, for sure.

“Going from last place to first in four years, I got to see the program grow, I got to see myself grow as a player and my teammates grow,” King said. “It’s the accumulation of a lot of really hard work, so I’m really proud to stand here and say, ‘We won league.’ That just means a lot more than it seems to, even though it’s already kind of a big deal.”

CdM (19-7, 8-2) earned a share of the league title after winning its final six league games. It shares the title with Woodbridge, which defeated third-place Beckman, 60-33, on Thursday.

“It’s huge,” CdM Coach Mark Decker said. “I give our girls a lot of credit. Three and a half weeks ago, after we lost to Beckman, we were 2-2 in league. There were a bunch of people who said we blew our chance. You know what, our girls stuck with it and got better and better. Obviously, we’re the only team that went undefeated in the second half of league, so I think we improved and we really deserve this.”

Westrup led CdM with 14 points and seven steals, and junior post Natalia Bruening had 12 before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Junior center Krista Anderson scored 10, making all five of her field-goal attempts, while King scored seven and junior forward Kat Hess had six. Junior guard Kelly Tam had an off shooting night but managed to pull down eight rebounds, which tied Bruening for the team lead.

CdM, ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section Division 3AA, seemed to be fine even when Bruening fouled out on what Decker considered a questionable call. They still had a 50-39 lead with 3:04 remaining.

But Northwood junior Kaitlyn Hsu, who led everyone with 21 points, was awarded three free throws instead of two. This also peeved Decker, as Hsu’s jumper seemed to be clearly inside the three-point line.

She made all three of them, sparking a rally by the Timberwolves (16-10, 4-6). The visitors, who finished fourth in league and are ranked No. 9 in Division 3AA, got three-pointers by freshman guard Erin Matsutsuyu, as well as Hsu, to pull within 50-48 with less than two minutes remaining.

“I was real proud of my girls coming back and not getting down,” Northwood Coach J.C. Clarke said. “The size difference is just tremendous, but they just kept plugging away. I actually thought we did a pretty decent job on the defensive boards. The girls that hurt us, and I’ll tell you it was a great pickup for Mark, was the soccer player [Westrup]. She disrupted a lot of things, and got a lot of steals out front which led to breakaway layups. They got some easy baskets off of her steals, and we didn’t get any easy baskets. She’s a good player; she’s been getting better and better the whole year.”

Neither team scored again until King’s free throws with 46 seconds left. Northwood’s Tristan split two free throws of her own 12 seconds later, pulling Northwood within three, and Decker called timeout with 20 seconds left.

Decker said he expected the Timberwolves to foul, but they never did. King held the ball until CdM had committed a shot clock violation with four seconds to go, which Decker admitted after the game was a mistake.

“Why didn’t you guys shoot it?” a smiling CdM boys’ basketball Coach Ryan Schachter asked Decker after the game.

Decker smiled back.

“Sometimes I have no answers,” he said.

Decker does expect his team to show up for the CIF playoffs, which will begin with a home game on Feb. 19. The Division 3AA brackets will be released on Sunday.

Last year, CdM reached the CIF semifinals for the first time since 1983, and also made the CIF State Southern California Regional playoffs for the first time. But this year, the Sea Kings appear even better and expectations are higher.

“Last year we kind of like fizzled out toward the end of CIF,” said Pridemore, who like King has spent four years in the CdM program. “This year, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. We really want to finish strong and go far, and we definitely want to win. We don’t want third or fourth place; we want first.”

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Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 52, Northwood 49

SCORE BY QUARTERS

North 10 – 7 – 11 – 21 — 49

CdM 15 – 15 – 11 – 11 — 52

North – Hsu 21, Matsutsuyu 12, Murphy 6, Tristan 6, Ambat 2, Danilychev 2.

3-pt. goals – Matsutsuyu 3, Hsu 2.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – Westrup 14, Bruening 12, Anderson 10, King 7, Hess 6, Wall 2, Tam 1.

3-pt. goals – Westrup 1, King 1.

Fouled out – Bruening.

Technicals – None.