Segerstrom still in league title chase
Segerstrom stayed in the hunt for a third consecutive Golden West League championship by avenging its lone league loss with a convincing 59-35 victory over Westminster on Thursday night at Segerstrom High.
Kayla Stephens led the way for the Jaguars with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
"It was a good win for us," Stephens said. "It made us tied for (first place).
"We had a lot of physicality. That's from having a good practice. We took practice seriously all week. We lost by eight the first time and then come out here and beat them by 24. It was all because we were hustling. Just because we hustled. Big turnaround."
Ruby Padilla had 11 points and seven rebounds, Vanessa Rea had eight points and 13 rebounds and Natalie Perales came off the bench for 14 points for Segerstrom.
Segerstrom's defense was able to force Westminster into 24 turnovers, the Jaguars outrebounded the Lions, 42-22, and Westminster was 6 for 14 from the foul line.
The Jaguars had a nine-point lead at the half before outscoring the Lions, 18-2, in the third quarter to create an insurmountable lead.
"They (the Lions) could have clinched it (the league title) tonight here, but we were ready to play," Segerstrom coach Jeff Watts said. "We went man-to-man against them and that's their strength. I thought we did a pretty good job against them. We fouled a little too much. Our kids were really ready. And we're deep. I think we're deeper than they are."
Segerstrom (18-6, 7-1), ranked No. 10 in CIF-SS Division 2AA, closes out the regular season with games against Loara on Tuesday and at Ocean View next Thursday. Westminster (17-7, 7-1), ranked No. 13 in Division 2AA, cloncludes the regular season at Orange on tuesday and against Santa Ana next Thursday.
"If we lost tonight with two games two go, and they got two pretty easy (games)," Watts said. "We had to do it tonight or ... We're in the same division so I have a feeling it will be a coin flip (if Segerstrom and Westminster finish the regular season tied for first place)."
In the Sunset League:
No. 8 Huntington Beach 73, No. 3 Edison 70: Kelsey Minato scored 31 points and Paola Roa scored 21 points to help the visiting Oilers (19-4, 7-1) upset the Chargers (19-3, 7-1) and move into a tie for first place in league.
Minato and Roa made four 3-pointers apiece for Huntington Beach, which made a total of 13 3-pointers.
In the Century League:
No. 2 Brea Olinda 68, Esperanza 26: Anna Kim scored 20 points, Pepperdine-bound Keitra Wallace had 17 points and Arin Perry had 13 points as the Ladycats (17-5, 8-1) defeated the host Aztecs (12-12, 4-6).
No. 5 Foothill 53, Villa Park 48: UC Davis-bound Molly Greubel dropped 26 points on the Spartans (14-8, 4-5) to lead the visiting Knights (20-4, 9-1).
In the Orange Coast League:
Godinez 61, Saddleback 31: Lilian Lete and Kikey Ramos scored 15 points apiece to help the visiting Grizzlies (19-4, 8-0) clinch their third league title in four years.
