Foothill battles but falls to Marlborough
Foothill battles but falls to Marlborough
With Marinacci held in check at times, the Knights lose, 63-49, in Division III regionals.
SANTA ANA -The Foothill girls basketball team gave the home crowd reason to cheer as the first half ended during Thursday's CIF Southern California Regional quarterfinal against Marlborough of Los Angeles.
The Knights had scored nine consecutive points to tie the score but things quickly changed.
Marlborough (23-11) clamped down on Foothill star Christina Marinacci, holding her to one field goal in the third quarter, to help pave the way to a 63-49 victory at Foothill High.
Foothill, the CIF-SS Division III-A champion, finishes the season 30-2.
“Our shots weren't falling in the first half. We missed a lot of easy shots in the first half,” Foothill coach Bill Seibert said. “We couldn't get into the flow of our offense.”
Marlborough will face Inglewood in the regional final Saturday at Pauley Pavilion at 10 a.m.
Inglewood defeated Woodbridge, 62-55 in the other Division III quarterfinal Thursday night.
Marlborough's post defense played a key role in the third quarter. The Mustangs were able to keep Marinacci off of the ball and that eventually translated into a 33-23 lead with 4:40 to go.
Foothill, however, managed to rally to get within 33-30 on Marinacci's first field goal late in the quarter.
“They did a good job on her,” Seibert said of Marlborough's defense on Marinacci. “They were physical with her.
“We've played some of the best teams in the state this year and I don't think they did anything spectacular against her. I just think their players had a good flow going tonight.”
The Mustangs led 41-31 early in the fourth quarter. Marinacci, who finished with 19 points, scored five consecutive points to get the Knights to 41-36.
Marlborough then scored seven consecutive points to put the game away.
Paulina Solis had 14 points for the Knights.
“When you get this far in the playoffs, good teams are going to hurt you,” Seibert said. “And that's exactly what they did. We tried to make a little run there, but it was too much of a push for us.”
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
