Laguna Hills buries San Clemente with second-half barrage
Laguna Hills started off ice cold before exploding for 31 points in the third quarter en route to a 73-45 victory over San Clemente in a South Coast League girls basketball game on Tuesday night at Laguna Hills High.
Brooke Shimazaki 13 points, including three 3-pointers, in the third quarter as the Hawks turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 60-36 advantage heading into the final quarter.
"That's our biggest quarter of the season," Laguna Hills coach Jim Martin said of the third quarter when the Hawks outscored the Tritons, 31-9. "Shimazaki got real hot. She's been getting more and more confident all season."
Laguna Hills went 5 minutes and 30 seconds without basket to start the game and the Tritons were able to build a 10-2 lead. UC Davis-bound Celia Marfone scored seven points to close out the quarter and bring the Hawks to within four points heading into the second quarter.
Julie Le hit a 3-pointer with 6:56 left in the half to give the Hawks their first lead at 14-12. Laguna Hills started to pull away from that point on.
Shimazaki finished with four 3-pointers and 18 points. UC Davis-bound Celia Marfone continued her strong play for the Hawks finishing with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Point guard Maddy Ziering-Smith had 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
The first-place Hawks, ranked No. 4 in CIF-SS Division 3AA, improved to 13-7 overall and 4-0 in league. San Clemente, ranked No. 14 in Division 1AA, dropped to 12-6 and 2-2.
In another South Coast League game:
Mission Viejo 53, Dana Hills 42: Gabby Kaiser dropped 33 points on the Dolphins (9-11, 1-4) to lead the visiting Diablos (10-8, 1-3), ranked No. 14 in Division 1A.
In the Century League:
No. 2 Brea Olinda 69, Villa Park 41: Anna Kim scored 17 points and Taylor Spears and Keitra Wallace scored 12 points apiece as the Ladycats (14-4, 5-0) dispatched the visiting Spartans (13-5, 3-2), who got 23 points from Connie Ballastero. Brea Olinda is ranked No. 3 in Division 1AA and Villa Park is No. 5 in Division 1A.
No. 5 Foothill 42, El Dorado 26: The Knights' 17-4 run in the first quarter set the tone and Foothill (16-3, 5-0) went on to the victory. Taylor Hirz scored a team-high nine points for the Knights, ranked No. 3 in Division 2A.
In the Sunset League:
No. 3 Edison 63, Marina 31: Freshman Katie Lou Samuelson scored 26 points and Lauren Grego had 11 to lead the host Chargers (14-2, 4-0), ranked No. 5 in Division 1AA.
No. 8 Huntington Beach 63, Newport Harbor 23: Kelsey Minator scored 16 points and Maya Kennedy and Paola Roa chipped in with 11 points apiece for the host Oilers (14-4, 3-1), ranked No. 4 in Division 1A.
In the Empire League:
Yorba Linda 58, Cypress 43: Courtney Vaccher scored 16 points, Taylor Schlener had 13 points and Alexus Atchley added 11 points for the host Mustangs (14-5, 5-0) in the victory over the Centurions (12-7, 3-2). Yorba Linda is ranked No. 2 in Division 3AA and Cypress is No. 13 in Division 2AA.
In the Golden West League:
Westminster 52, Segerstrom 44: Chyann Pendergrass scored 15 points and Karen Batani and Maggie Dumphy scored 11 points apiece as the Lions (13-5, 3-0), ranked No. 12 in Division 2AA, knocked off the visiting Jaguars (13-7, 2-1), ranked No. 9 in Division 2AA.
In the Sea View League:
Aliso Niguel 67, Tesoro 61: McKenna Hayes' 20 points paced the host Wolverines (3-10, 2-3).
In the Pacific Coast League:
University 51, Northwood 35: Michelle Shen's 14 points lifted the host Trojans (13-7, 3-1) over the Timberwolves (8-11, 0-3). University is ranked No. 11 in Division 2AA and Northwood is No. 16 in Division 3AA.
In the Express League:
Bethel Baptist 49, Southlands Christian (Wildomar) 11: Priscilla Lopez scored 33 points for her fourth 30-point game of the season to lead the visiting Warriors (8-4, 2-2).
