Building Steam, Tritons Roll Over No. 8 Rosary

If San Clemente had been difficult to beat in the early weeks of the season, there might be no catching them now.

The Tritons, fresh off a victory over Ventura Buena in the Las Vegas Cheyenne Run and Gun tournament, ran to another victory Friday in the first round of the Marina girls’ basketball tournament.

San Clemente, ranked second in the county, scored a 67-53 victory over eighth-ranked Rosary, a team that looked an awful lot like the Tritons, but still was not in their class.

“I think in a couple of years, we could be like that,” Rosary Coach Rich Yoon said. “This was a great experience in that sense.

“They’re very athletic and it was hard to match up with that with our youth.”

And so San Clemente took the Royals to school, taking advantage of 19 first-half turnovers--13 in the second quarter--and making 24 of its first 50 shots to build a 23-point lead.

“They really model our team,” San Clemente post player Colleen Turnbull said. “They were good--better than I expected.”

San Clemente plays Fountain Valley tonight in the second round. The winner plays Marina in Monday’s semifinal.

Turnbull scored 16--nine in the second quarter--and had nine rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.

She was complemented by Debby Caine, who had 10 points and seven assists in the fast-paced game, and Taryn Commins, who had eight points, seven rebounds, five steals and five assists.

Junior Romina Bollini led Rosary with 19 points and eight rebounds. Guard Sarah Belavic, at times the only senior on the floor for the Royals, had 14 points and six steals.

The victory Monday over Buena--which has won four of the last five Southern Section Division I-A titles--might signal the Tritons’ readiness to win their first title.

“That gave us a lot of self-confidence, especially winning by so much [58-47, after leading by 23],” Turnbull said. “Here, I think we have the self-confidence that we didn’t have when we went to Las Vegas.”

San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan called it one of the great victories in San Clemente history.

“I told them this could be a preview of the [Southern Section] championship game,” Mulligan said. “Even if Buena loses, it’s by one or two points; they’re not down by 23 very often.

“I feel my girls think they can beat anybody now.”

They started with Rosary.