At the onset, it appeared as if it was going to be a night Sierra Vaglica simply took over.
After a 10-point first quarter, the Woodbridge point guard fed teammate Lauren Baffo in the post in the second. Lauren Lum had the hot hand in the third, before Anjali Ghadi sealed the deal in the fourth.
The Warriors, ranked 10th in the county, produced four scorers in double figures Tuesday night en route to a 57-34 win over host Beckman. The win clinched Woodbridge at least a share of the Pacific Coast League title.
Woodbridge (20-5, 8-1) will host University on Thursday night. The Warriors have beaten the Trojans twice this year – once in a tournament, once in league. They will need a third triumph to secure the outright league championship.
“I’ve never had a team in my 30-something years at Woodbridge that has played up to their level – and a little bit more – this consistently,” Woodbridge coach Eric Bangs said. “Really, really proud of this group. Obviously, we’d like to go out and get a win in the last game to be undisputed, but this game was kind of a microcosm of our season.”
Displaying its unselfishness with constant movement of the basketball, the Warriors turned in a different leading scorer in each of the four quarters. Vaglica scored 10 of her 14 in the first, and Baffo’s nine second quarter points gave Woodbridge a 31-16 edge at the half.
Lum matched Vaglica’s game-high 14 points. The junior guard drained three 3-pointers in the third, including a buzzer-beater from NBA-range that put Woodbridge ahead by 18 going to the fourth.
Ghadi finished with 10 points.
Lili Hamada led the Patriots (14-12, 4-5) with 12 points. Beckman shot just 4 for 14 from beyond the 3-point arc.
In the North Hills League:
Esperanza 62, El Modena 45: Junior guard Amanda Williams scored a season-high 20 points to help keep the Aztecs unbeaten (17-8, 5-0) atop the league standings.
Yorba Linda 45, Villa Park 32: The Mustangs (9-11, 3-1) limited the host Spartans (10-15, 0-5) to 13 second-half points to secure the victory. Yorba Linda sophomore guard Mikayla Buscaino led all scorers with 18 points.
In the Empire League:
Kennedy 45, Tustin 25: Camryn Hamaguchi’s 20-point outing coupled with a stellar defensive effort kept alive the league title hopes of the Fighting Irish (19-6, 8-1). Kennedy ends the regular season Thursday against Cypress.
Cypress 45, Valencia 39: Aggie Manu (13) and Huda Trablci (12) each finished in double figures, helping the Centurions (17-8, 8-1) remain tied atop the league standings with Kennedy.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
