Rancho Alamitos Takes a Slice of III-A Final

NEWPORT BEACH —  As she stepped to the foul line for the two biggest free throws of her high school career, Rancho Alamitos forward Timerie James’ thoughts turned to . . . a pie?

“We had a free-throw shooting contest today at an assembly in school and if you missed, you got a pie in the face,” James said. “All I could think of was getting a pie in the face if I missed.”

The only pie the 5-foot-9 senior got Tuesday night was perhaps in the post-game celebration after she calmly sank a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining in overtime to give the Vaqueros a 75-74 victory over Costa Mesa in the Southern Section Division III-A semifinals at Newport Harbor High.

Rancho Alamitos (20-2), seeded third in the division, advances to Saturday’s championship game at UC Irvine’s Bren Center against the winner of the South Hills-St. Bernard game tonight. It’s the second trip to the final since 1990 for the Vaqueros, who lost to Costa Mesa, 51-49, in the III-A title game that year.

Costa Mesa, which was seeded second, finishes at 21-7 and will miss the finals for the first time in three seasons.

The pace of the game Tuesday turned fast and furious from the beginning, and reached a climax in the frantic three-minute overtime.

With the teams tied, 67-67, after regulation, Rancho Alamitos opened a five-point edge 30 seconds into overtime on two free throws and a three-pointer by Timerie James. She scored seven of her team’s eight points in the extra period.

But Costa Mesa guard Olivia DiCamilli, who scored a game-high 36 points before fouling out with 30 seconds to play in the game, put the Mustangs ahead, 74-72, on a three-pointer seconds earlier.

Rancho Alamitos’ Anita Stecker then made a free throw with seven seconds remaining to cut the Costa Mesa lead to 74-73. Stecker missed the second attempt, however, and Timerie James was fouled while trying to shoot after getting the rebound. She hit nothing but net on the winning free throws.

The two free throws were the 19th and 20th converted by Rancho Alamitos in 25 attempts in the game. The Vaqueros enjoyed a huge advantage over Costa Mesa (seven of 11) in that department.

“I told the kids at halftime that the difference would come down to who could shoot free throws and three-pointers,” Rancho Alamitos Coach Bob Becker said.

Costa Mesa took a 22-16 lead after one quarter before Rancho Alamitos rallied to go ahead, 38-37, at halftime. The Vaqueros remained in the lead, 53-51, after three quarters.

Stecker led Rancho Alamitos in scoring with 23 points and in rebounding with eight. Timerie James had nine points and her sister, Shannon, added 14.

“It was a war,” Becker said.