SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION II-AA ROUNDUP : Edison Loses a Plodding Battle of Attrition to Arlington

Philip Abraham, girls’ coach at Edison High School, wanted his team to play up-tempo, run ‘em-until-they-drop basketball Wednesday night at Huntington Beach. Instead, he watched the Chargers lose a game of attrition.

Arlington forced the Chargers into a game of plod-and-pick and came away with a 42-39 victory in the second round of the Southern Section II-AA playoffs at Edison.

“We aren’t going to win many games when we score 39 points,” Abraham said. “We wanted to run from the start of the game, but they wouldn’t let us.”

The Lions (24-2), who were two to three inches taller at every position, dictated the tempo by controlling the inside. They held a 42-28 rebound advantage, which effectively shut down the Chargers’ fast break.

Slowed to a walk, Edison was out of its element. Arlington went ahead, 10-2, in the first quarter and led for the entire game.

The Chargers tried a variety of defenses to neutralize the Lions’ size advantage, but none were effective.

Carol Vaioletama was a constant problem for the Chargers (17-11). She had 19 rebounds and scored eight of her 11 points off offensive rebounds.

“We couldn’t matchup inside with them,” Abraham said. “In that type a game, the bigger team is going to win every time.”

But the Chargers’ problems were not limited to defense. Offensively, they appeared out of sync.

Erika Miller, a three-point specialists and the Chargers’ leading scorer at 19 points per game, rarely got an open shot. She was two of nine from the field and scored only nine points.

Frustrated, Miller even missed two breakaway layups in the third quarter.

Talia Crooks, who averaged 12 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half. She made only three of 13 shots and scored six points.

That left the offense up to point guard Melanie Iwanasa, who averages 14 points per game. For one half, she carried the Chargers.

Iwanasa scored her team’s first nine points and had 12 in the first half. That kept the Chargers close, as they trailed, 23-19, at halftime.

The Lions tightened up on Iwanasa in the second half and limited her to four points. As a result, Arlington pulled ahead, 37-29, early in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers made one run late in the game. A steal by Iwanasa, which led to a basket by Joan Paje, cut the deficit to two, 37-35, with 2 minutes 28 seconds left. But it was as close the Chargers would get.

Edison had one chance to tie, trailing, 40-37. But Iwanasa’s three-pointer rolled around the rim three times, hung on the lip and rolled off with 40 seconds left.

Christie Reeves then made two free throws to clinch the victory.

“You have to give the credit to Arlington,” Abraham said. “They did what they needed to do.”

And Edison didn’t.

Tustin 65, Santiago 37--Christine Garner had 29 points, despite making only three of 12 free throws, and 23 rebounds as Tustin won easily at Santiago. Tustin, which led, 30-16, at halftime, had 27 steals and forced nearly 40 Santiago turnovers.

Wanda Sequeira had 13 points, five assists and nine steals for the Tillers (25-3), who play Riverside North in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Brea-Olinda 63, San Clemente 45--Jinelle Williams scored 24 points and Nicole Erickson added 15 for visiting Brea-Olinda.

Top-seeded Brea-Olinda plays the winner of Norco and Garey on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Williams, a 5-9 senior forward, made 12 of 17 shots from the field, including a four-for-four second-quarter performance when Brea-Olinda (26-1) took control of the game. San Clemente (16-9) trailed only 17-12 after one quarter, but Williams and Erickson combined to score 16 points in the second quarter to extend Brea-Olinda’s lead to 39-18 at halftime.

“The last 10 games, Jinelle’s been shooting about 60% and averaging about 22 points,” Brea-Olinda Coach Mark Trakh said. “We needed her to do that again tonight because we knew San Clemente would play us tough.”

Erickson, a freshman point guard, overcame a poor first quarter in which she turned the ball over three times against San Clemente’s full-court press. Later, her quick drives to the basket forced the Tritons to foul, and Erickson made all six of her free-throws during a 20-6 second-quarter run by Brea-Olinda in the second quarter.

“Erickson’s not a normal freshman out there,” San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan said. “What makes her so good is that she keeps coming back even after mistakes. Not a lot of freshmen do that.”

Maili Rohner scored 14 points for San Clemente. Dana Netherby added 13 points for the Tritons, who will return four starters next year.