SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II-A GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Cypress Cruises to Victory as El Modena’s Strategy Fails

As far as strategy is concerned, El Modena High girls’ basketball Coach John Cahill is no novice.

So Cahill instructed his charges to encircle Cypress standout center Jessica Eggleston whenever she had the ball Friday night during the first round of the Southern Section Division II-A playoffs; the idea being to force other Centurions to beat El Modena.

But even the most sound, battle-tested plans can go awry. Especially when your opponent has an overwhelming edge in one important category: talent.

Despite holding Eggleston in check, El Modena was unable to stop her teammates, as the host Centurions won, 61-50.

The Vanguards limited Eggleston to 12 points--about 18 below her county-leading average--but teammates Susan Flaming and Julie Adams powered the Centurions. Flaming scored a game-high 21 points and Adams had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

“My teammates did a great job stepping up,” an exhausted Eggleston said. “They were surrounding me every time I got the ball, so we needed everybody else to hit some shots.”

Said Cahill: “We tried to make them beat us from the outside and they did.”

Empire League champion Cypress (24-3) will play Redondo Beach Redondo Union in the second round Wednesday. The Vanguards, who finished third in the Century League, end the season 11-11.

Flaming, who made five of 12 three-pointers, scored nine points to help give Cypress a one-point lead (16-15) entering the second quarter.

Then Adams took over.

She dominated play with 11 points and eight rebounds during the quarter. Adams and Flaming made consecutive baskets in the closing seconds of the first half to give Cypress its biggest lead of the game, at 13 points, 33-20.

“I kept looking for the open shots because they were surrounding Jessica,” Adams said. “We knew we had to make some shots because they were all around her.”

Forward Jamie Shine led the Vanguards with 12 points and six rebounds. Guard Jennie Foyle had 10 points and four steals.

“I’m not disappointed with how we played at all,” Cahill said. “They’re a very good team and they showed that.”

In other Division II-A games:

Canyon 46, Pomona Garey 41--Canyon (15-9) led by 10 points at the half and held on for the victory. Katherine Fish had 13 points and Sara Spjut had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Comanches, who will face Troy in a second-round game.

Hacienda Heights Wilson 68, Tustin 55--Katie Scheuerman had three three-pointers and finished with a team-high 15 points and Alison Carr had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Tustin (17-10).

For Hacienda Heights Wilson (22-3), the division’s defending champion, Nelli Lew had a game-high 18 points.

Troy 52, Compton Dominguez 39--Dinah Shah had 19 points and seven assists, Rebecca How added 11 points and Audra Gamst scored 10 points to lead Troy (19-5), which will face Canyon in the second round.

Valencia 51, La Mirada 48--LaQuinta Alexander had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Tina Katz and Michelle Prager each scored 10 for Valencia. The Tigers scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to come back from a six-point deficit after three quarters. Valencia will face Alemany in the second round.

Mission Hills Alemany 58, Katella 39--Visiting Katella fell to the division’s top-seeded team. Guard Chris Carillo led Katella (12-12) with 20 points. Kelly McKay had 18 points for Alemany (24-0).

Pasadena Muir 70, Kennedy 56--Kennedy (16-11) failed to match last year’s second-round performance, losing its playoff opener against Muir (17-7).