Santa Margarita storms back from slow start to win title

SANTA ANA - For 4 minutes and 26 seconds it looked as if Santa Margarita's girls basketball team might not even make a basket, let alone beat Muir of Pasadena in the CIF-SS Division 3A championship game on Thursday night at Mater Dei High.

This group of Eagles had never played in a game of this magnitude and the nerves were showing with every air ball and missed shot that went up.

But a funny thing happened. The Mustangs were never able to pull away from the Eagles during their horrendous start. Top-seeded Santa Margarita calmed down after the first quarter and dominated the final three quarters to beat second-seeded Muir, 52-39.

Madison McKenney started hitting Melissa Zornig with long passes for breakaway layups. Center Elise Lorenz found her shot in the post. Denise Fernandez knocked down 3-pointers. Jessica Jospeh gave the Eagles energy off the bench.

It all came together for Santa Margarita, which was making its third appearance in the finals. The Eagles captured their first championship since winning the Division 3AA title in 2005.

"None of us had been to CIF before," McKenney said. "It was really intense. It took us the first quarter to calm down the nerves and then finally get into our game and do what we know how to do well."

Santa Margarita's scoreless drought at the start of the game came to an end when McKenney made a diving save on a loose ball and fed ahead to Zornig for a breakaway layup to get the Eagles on the scoreboard with 3:34 left in the first quarter.

Muir was unable to capitalize on Santa Margarita's rough start and only carried a 9-6 lead over the Eagles into the second quarter.

The Eagles went on a 17-0 run from the end of the first quarter into the second quarter to take a 19-9 lead.

Muir's Jermani Daniels temporarily stopped the bleeding with a hard-earned hoop under the basket and a short jumper.

But Zornig put an end to that run with a 3-pointer and a steal and layup. Zornig was working for the last shot of the half, but had to dish off to Alexia Stamos, who sank a 6-footer at the buzzer to give Santa Margarita a 26-15 lead at halftime.

Muir was unable to put a dent it Santa Margarita's lead, and the Eagles closed the third quarter strong to take a 38-23 lead into the final quarter.

McKenney, who played football and baseball with the boys when she was younger, connected with Zornig on a couple of length-of-the-court passes that went for easy layups.

The Mustangs made one more run at the Eagles to get the deficit to single digits, but Fernandez knocked down two back-breaking 3-pointers in the final minutes to seal the victory for Santa Margarita.

Zornig finished with 19 points, five assists and four steals, McKenney had six assists and five steals, Lorenz had 14 points and nine rebounds and Fernandez had 10 points. Daniels had 10 points and was the only Muir player in double figures.

Santa Margarita, which finished second to Mater Dei in the Trinity League, improved its record to 24-6. Muir, which was making its 12th appearance in the finals and first since 2004, fell to 21-8.

Both teams advance to the Division 3 state tournament by reaching the finals. Pairings will be announced on Sunday afternoon.

Follow Carlos Arias on twitter.com/losocvarsity.