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SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Alemany Shows Poise, Holds Off El Dorado’s Rallies

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Mission Hills Alemany had too much height and too much poise in the stretch for El Dorado Wednesday night, defeating the second-seeded Golden Hawks, 62-55, in a Division III-AA girls’ basketball semifinal at Harvard Westlake High.

El Dorado (27-3) had trouble getting off good shots in the first quarter, because of Alemany’s height and zone defense and fell behind, 17-8. Nicole DeBruijn didn’t make El Dorado’s first field goal until 3 minutes 3 seconds remained in the first quarter. For the rest of the evening, the Golden Hawks played catch-up. Every time they did, Alemany came through with the big plays.

“We always played a bad quarter in every game this year,” El Dorado Coach Gary Raya said. “We struggled but were still in the game. We never gave up, though. We don’t quit.”

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The Golden Hawks fought back to tie the score, 37-37, on Kim Korsmeier’s basket with 3:44 left in the third quarter. But Alemany, which won the Division II-A championship last season, pulled ahead 45-40 with 1:05 left in the third quarter on two baskets by Kathy Brown.

Alemany (25-4), which will face Inglewood Morningside in Saturday’s division final at Loyola Marymount, took a 54-47 fourth-quarter lead, but the Golden Hawks fought back again.

Shanna Renken’s three-point play and Jody Caruso’s free throw with 1:30 left narrowed Alemany’s lead to 58-55. Alemany’s Carly Funicello, a 6-foot-2 freshman, scored from underneath with 55 seconds left. El Dorado’s Jamie Sweet missed an uncontested three-point shot. Alemany’s Kelly McKay hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining to ice the game.

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Brown had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Zevette Mitchell had 12 points and Rigley had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Alemany.

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