El Toro survives scare from Aliso Niguel
LAKE FOREST – The El Toro girls basketball team overcame 13 fourth-quarter turnovers and had just enough gas left in the tank down the stretch to leave its home court with a 56-47 victory over Aliso Niguel on Friday night in a South Coast League game.
"We don't like to lose on our floor," El Toro coach Erin Schimeneck said. "It's hard for us to get Laguna Hills and San Clemente, so every other game for us in league really has to count."
Over the past nine years, El Toro (11-12, 3-2) has won its past five meetings against Aliso Niguel (10-13, 1-5).
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Senior guard Whitney Williams had a game-high 20 points for the Chargers, while Chloe Sharabba dropped in 19 for the Wolverines.
Near the end of the third quarter, El Toro held a 47-19 lead and looked as if it was going to cruise to victory. Then the Chargers lost their starting point guard Shea Simon to a knee injury and the game took a drastic swing.
Aliso Niguel turned up the defensive pressure and proceeded to go on a 14-2 run to begin the fourth quarter, cutting El toro's lead to, 51-46.
El Toro's leading scorer, Christen Morris, then made a basket to push the lead to 53-46.
The Wolverines then committed two turnovers that led to a free throw by Williams and an Amanda Sanchez layup for the finishing touch.
El Toro, which led the entire game, jumped to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter and took a 35-14 margin into halftime.
El Toro finished 25 of 54 from the floor, and it held Aliso Niguel to 25 percent shooting (15 of 60) in the process.6
