South Coast League Girls’ Basketball : Mission Viejo Looking Like Champions Again

It was close for a quarter.

But then the Mission Viejo High School girls’ basketball team turned a South Coast League game with Capistrano Valley into a blowout. Mission Viejo pulled steadily away for a 59-40 victory Tuesday at Capistrano Valley.

The Diablos (19-3, 7-0 in league play) strengthened their hold on first place in the South Coast League with the victory.

The defending league champions won--in part--by slowing Capistrano Valley center Holly Anderson after the first quarter.

Anderson, who averages 22 points a game, had eight in the first quarter as Capistrano Valley (16-6, 4-2) trailed, 11-10. But Mission Viejo, which was trying out a new trapping defense, held her to eight more the rest of the way.

Mission Viejo held Anderson scoreless over a 13-minute stretch covering portions of the second and third quarters. In that span, Mission Viejo outscored Capistrano Valley, 29-10. The Diablos turned a 15-11 deficit with 7 minutes left in the half into a 40-25 lead with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Capistrano Valley was never able to mount a serious rally after that as the Diablos’ lead swelled to as many as 23 points.

“I don’t know if it was bad offense on our part or good defense on their part,” Capistrano Valley Coach Stan DeMaggio said.

Steve Asay, Mission Viejo coach, attributed the victory to the his defense.

“The defense won the game,” he said. “We wanted to deny the ball to (Capistrano Valley forward) Shelly Zierhut and play a box and one on Anderson.”

Jennifer Rohrig, Mission Viejo’s rail-thin, 6-foot 2-inch center, was responsible for guarding Anderson. In addition to holding Anderson 6 points below her average, Rohrig had six blocked shots and scored eight points.

Derrie Nauta had 16 points to lead Mission Viejo. Her eight points in the third quarter helped the Diablos put the Cougars away for good.

Tina Ranker added 15 points and applied determined pressure on Peggy Rivas and Bridget Baker, Capistrano Valley’s guards. Kristen Okura and Shannon Morgan had 10 apiece for the Diablos.

“We set a goal for ourselves to win the championship again,” Asay said. “And we’re well on our way to it.”

In another South Coast League game:

Dana Hills 43, Irvine 42--Erin Schimeneck scored 24 points and had 13 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Dana Hills (5-12, 2-5) at home. Irvine is 0-7 in league play.