Home Court Proves No Advantage for Hart in Lopsided Loss

The girls’ basketball team from Mt. Carmel High in San Diego journeyed more than 2 1/2 hours Tuesday to play Hart, which had not lost a home game in more than two years.

So what happened? Mt. Carmel ran the Indians right out of their own gym--and the state playoff tournament--with a 65-42 victory in a Southern California Division I regional.

So much for home-court advantage.

“It’s a little stunning,” said Hart Coach Dave Munroe, whose team won the Southern Section 5-A Division championship Friday with a 49-45 victory over Buena. “We’re better than what we played tonight. We were flat.”

Flattened is more accurate. This one got ugly fast and stayed that way.

Mt. Carmel (23-5), the San Diego Section Division I champion, led 19-9 after one quarter, 40-13 by halftime and 55-24 midway through the third quarter.

From there it was all substitutions and dribbling.

“We’ve never had a 40-point half all year long,” Mt Carmel Coach Peggy Brose said. “Maybe we should take a 2 1/2-hour bus trip before every game.”

The Sundevils kept Hart (25-5) bottled up, especially in containing 6-foot-3 senior center Sara Wilson, who scored just nine points.

Wilson, last season’s Times Valley Player of the Year, did not score until she sank a free throw midway through the third quarter and did not make a field goal until the fourth quarter.

Sophomore point guard Anjanette Dionne, the other half of Hart’s one-two punch, poured in a game-high 19 points--including three three-point baskets--but she also was largely neutralized.

Hart’s highlight of the evening came with 2 minutes 47 seconds to play when Dionne, after fouling out, received a standing ovation for her season-long efforts.

“We didn’t have the intensity tonight,” said Dionne, who averaged 23 points a game this season. “I’m glad to see that everyone stayed until the end instead of leaving.”

Mt. Carmel moved the ball swiftly, mostly to 5-8 junior forward Vicki de Jesus, who scored a team-high 17 points. Kris Grazzini, a 6-2 sophomore center, added 16 points.

Guards Tara Schwerin (13) and Rachel Velasco (12) also scored in double figures.

“We’re just a team that has no superstars but just plays well,” Brose said. “Our shots were falling.”

Mt. Carmel made 27 of 53 (51%) from the field while Hart was 18 of 55 (32%).

“We dug a hole,” Munroe said simply. “But we played 30 games this year, we’re allowed to make a mistake.”