No. 2 Brea Olinda defeats Foothill in OT (with audio)

The final score of the Brea Olinda-Foothill girls basketball showdown on Saturday night at Foothill High was not indicative of how tight the game truly was.

The second-ranked Ladycats had a nine-point lead with 2 minutes and 20 seconds left in regulation, but Foothill's Christina Marinacci and Blair Shinoda got loose and erased that deficit to force overtime.

The third-ranked Knights were without Marinacci, who fouled out with 39.9 seconds left in regulation, for the extra period and Brea Olinda went on to win, 71-59.

“Anybody that was at the game is going to tell you that it was not a 10-point or 11-point game,” Ladycats coach Jeff Sink said. “If Marinacci doesn't foul out, it's probably one of those games where whoever has the ball last wins. It was a good game. I have the highest respect for the Foothill kids and I have the highest respect for their coaching staff.”

Foothill trailed, 57-48 with 2:20 left after Brea Olinda's Jonae Ervin, who finished with a game-high 28 points, made one of her many acrobatic layups in the game.

Shinoda sank a pair of free throws, then Marinacci knocked down a 3-pointer. Brea Olinda turned the ball over and Marinacci, who had nine of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, drained a jumper to cut it to 57-55 before fouling out.

Ervin missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 23.5 seconds left.That left the door open for the Knights and Shinoda, who had eight of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, nailed a 12-footer with 4 seconds left to tie it.

Ervin got off a half-court shot that rimmed out at the buzzer and it was off to overtime.

Junior Kelsey Harris, who has been a starter for Brea Olinda since she was a freshman, has struggled with her shot for much of the season, but she made two 3-pointers to start the overtime period.

“It felt good because we needed them,” Harris said. “I was just open so I took them.”

Ervin made 6 of 8 free throws in overtime to help the Ladycats nail down the victory.

“We feel like we're No. 1 in O.C.,” Ervin said. “Foothill is a great team. They worked really hard. They made it a great game. They caused us to make turnovers, but we were able to pick the intensity back up.”

In other nonleague games:

No. 1 Mater Dei 73, Paloma Valley (Menifee) 10: Sophomore Kaleena Lewis scored 16 points and freshman Jordan Adams added eight points as the Monarchs (16-0) rolled past the host Wildcats (6-8).

No. 11 Laguna Hills 45, Our Lady of Peace (San Diego) 36: Lauren Engeln scored a game-high 24 points and Jenna Arnett had 10 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Hawks (12-5) snapped the Pilots (13-3) five-game winning streak in the Matador One Day Classic.

No. 13 Mission Viejo 61, Long Beach Jordan 39: Ashley Fajardo scored a game-high 24 points and Kaitlyn Petersen scored 21 points for the Diablos (13-4) in a victory over the Panthers (9-7).

No. 17 Canyon 52, Yucca Valley 43: Allie Henderson scored 13 points, Chanel Maxey had 11 points and Shanice Jackson had 10 points and the trio combined for seven 3-pointers as the Comanches (12-5) knocked off the visiting Trojans (12-3).

Fountain Valley 53, Ocean View 44: Helena Robel and LaRee Reeves combined for 23 points as the Barons (8-9) defeated the host Seahawks (5-8), who got a game-high 16 points from Sharine Ohanian.

Tesoro 58, Rancho Buena Vista (Vista) 45: Lauren Ram scored 18 points, Megan Perry had 14 points and eight rebounds and Jenna Lidner had 12 points as the Titans (9-8) beat the host Longhorns (4-9).

University 62, Estancia 23: Akemi Arzouman scored 18 points and Laura Campbell chipped in with 10 points as the Trojans (10-6) defeated the visiting Eagles (9-8).

Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana) 52, Village Christian (Sun Valley) 47: Christina Gooch scored a game-high 19 points, Brittany Garcia had 14 points and Katelyn Hayman added 10 points to lift the Eagles (6-10) over the host Crusaders (10-6).

Chadwick (Palos Verdes Peninsula) 62, St. Margaret's 36: Kayla Moritzky scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and Claire Hosinski had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Tartans (12-3) in a loss to the visiting Dolphins (10-2).

Brethren Christian 39, Liberty Christian 18: Megan Hammond's 14 points lifted the Warriors (5-7) over the visiting Minutemen (1-8).

In the adidas Team Sports/Super Flo Basketball Team Challenge:

No. 8 Troy 60, Chaparral (Temecula) 31: Alex Sanchez scored 20 points and the Warriors (13-1) made nine 3-pointers in a victory over the Pumas (11-6).

No. 10 Huntington Beach 82, Beckman 17: Maya Kennedy scored 21 points as the Oilers (13-4) took care of the Patriots (3-14) at Magnolia High.

Noelani Viloria had 13 points, Kelsey Minto had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Brooke Thomas added 10 points for Huntington Beach.

Etiwanda 60, No. 9 Santa Margarita 50: Melissa Zornig scored 21 points and Madi McKenney had 12 points for Santa Margarita (8-6) in a loss to Etiwanda (10-5).

In the Olympic League:

Whittier Christian 49, Valley Christian (Cerritos) 29: Whitley Brown made four 3-pointers and had 14 points and Callie Rohrbacker made three 3-pointers and had 11 points to lead the Heralds (13-4, 1-0) past the visiting Crusaders (9-6, 0-1).

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com