Capistrano Valley Loses to Nationally Ranked Foe

Facing the worst possible matchup of the tournament, fourth-ranked Capistrano Valley became the 54th consecutive victim of Orem (Utah) Mountain View in the first round of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

Mountain View won, 61-41, wearing down the Cougars in the second half after holding a 21-17 halftime lead. Mountain View, ranked ninth nationally, is 5-0.

“Their height and putbacks just wore us down,” Capistrano Valley Coach Pete Belanto said. “We were guarding 6-foot-3, 6-1, 6-1 players with 5-11, 5-10, 5-8.”

Monique Mathews scored 23 points and had 14 rebounds against the 2-3 zone defense. Leah Wilde added 10 for Capistrano Valley (5-1), which led, 11-10, after one quarter at Santa Barbara City College.

“I would rather play a reasonably sized team that played man-to-man defense,” Belanto said. “I looked at this team in warmups, with eight kids over 6-0, and said, ‘We’re in trouble.’

“But you come here for a reason--to make your kids better, so that when you go to the playoffs, they’re aware of how good they have to be to win.

“The team that loses four games here will win 20 games this season.”

Capistrano Valley plays Esperanza today.

In other tournament games:

No. 1 Brea Olinda 59, Chino 27--Lindsey Davidson scored 14 points on six of six shooting and added six assists and three steals. Brea (9-0) faces San Jose Archbishop Mitty today.

Gillette (Wyo.) Campbell County 60, No. 3 Esperanza 43--Center Leah Combs was held to five points, and leading scorer Allison Gerber, averaging 12 points, was held scoreless by the four-time defending state champion. Kim Omer scored 15 for Esperanza (3-3), which trailed by 14 at halftime.

Berkeley 59, No. 6 Mater Dei 32--Mater Dei (4-3), beaten early by the transition game of the defending Division I state champion, cut a 35-15 halftime deficit to nine points in the third quarter.

In the tournament’s Green Division:

Fountain Valley 44, Morro Bay 33--The Barons (2-4) outscored Morro Bay, 16-8, in the fourth quarter. Lindsay King and Kelly Boeke had 10 points apiece.

In the Amador Valley tournament:

Woodbridge 51, San Diego Montgomery 43--Playing with the chemistry it had lacked most of the season, point guard Nicole Roberts got 11 points and eight rebounds, and Natalie Quinn scored 11 for the Warriors (4-4). Amber Avestruz added 10 points. Woodbridge plays Newark Memorial, the state Division II runner-up, for the consolation title.

In the Artesia-Brethren Christian tournament:

Calvary Chapel 45, Lakewood St. Joseph’s 38--Christy Ring scored 13 points and Erica Waetjen had 12 as Calvary Chapel (7-0) advanced to tonight’s quarterfinals (7:30 p.m.) against Huntington Beach.

Ocean View 44, Loara 24--Anna Lembke’s 22 points and 17 rebounds led Ocean View (5-3) into the quarterfinals against Long Beach Poly. Mara Sheppard added 11 points and Rebecca Beelner had five steals.

In a consolation game:

Garden Grove 33, Cypress 29--Garden Grove (3-4) came from five points down with 2 minutes 40 seconds remaining to defeat Cypress (3-3).

In Gary Raya Coed Classic:

Aliso Niguel 56, Pomona Ganesha 54 (OT)--Aliso Niguel (6-4) rallied from 29-21 halftime deficit and tied the score at 48-48 on a three-pointer with 15 seconds left by Kristin Mutukisna (18 points). Kristen Moorhouse, coming off a 34-point performance, had 29 points and 20 rebounds to send Aliso Niguel to tonight’s championship at 6 p.m.

In the championship game of the La Quinta Aztec Classic:

No. 9 Edison 64, Dana Hills 54--Melanie Cherney scored 21 points and tournament MVP Christina Patterson added 20 points to lead the ninth-ranked Chargers (10-0).

In the Lady Lancer Pride tournament:

Connelly 52, Whittier Christian 32--Diane Kelly led Connelly (5-0) with 24 points and Ruth Lazzari had 19 rebounds and eight points. Dana Cordova scored 14 points, including four three-pointers, for Whittier Christian (5-3).

Orange Lutheran 49, Pasadena Poly 47--Orange Lutheran won its first game behind Molly Slane’s 13 points.

In the North Las Vegas Cheyenne Tournament:

No. 2 San Clemente 66, Reno (Nev.) 43--Kelley Kruger scored 12 points and had five steals and four assists to lead San Clemente (7-1) in pool play.