Redondo Shocks Brea, Ends Streak of Championships

After 11 years of winning Southern Section girls’ basketball titles, the improbable happened Friday at the Long Beach State Pyramid.

Brea Olinda lost a girls’ basketball championship game.

Redondo Beach Redondo Union will be the answer to the trivia question after ending Brea’s remarkable run, 55-46, to win the Division II-AA title.

“Oh my God, what an incredible feeling,” Redondo Coach Marcelo Enriquez said. “There are no words. What an amazing effort by the girls tonight.

“They’re the Rome of girls’ basketball.”

But Rome fell, and fell hard, as the Seahawks drove the lane over and over. They also did a great job of keeping the ball out of 6-foot-3 Chelsea Trotter’s hands.

Trotter scored 14 points and had six rebounds.

“Their defense was awesome,” said Trotter, who will play next season at Stanford. “I was triple-teamed the whole time; we didn’t adjust. That seems to be the story with this team.”

Brea Coach Jeff Sink, who wasn’t happy earlier in the week that his team played a semifinal on Wednesday while Redondo (27-5) played Foothill on Tuesday, thought his team looked weary.

“I think we were a step slow defensively, but we looked pretty unmotivated defensively, too.”

Trotter agreed. Sort of.

“I don’t know if we were a step slow or mentally not prepared,” she said. “A game like this. . . . We deserved to lose. They were driving to the hole left and right. There’s no excuse for it.”

Brea (25-6) trailed by 11 points with 1:01 left in the third quarter before mounting a comeback that seemed to rattle the Seahawks. Tara Hefferly (nine points) hit two three-point baskets, and also scored off a rebound--her first baskets of the game--and Jackie Lord (10 points) scored twice to cut the deficit to 40-39 with 4:51 remaining.

But just after Daveri Bonnewitz missed on a steal attempt that might have provided the lead, Redondo scored six in a row.

Even after that, Brea wasn’t dead. Ashley Saari scored on a baseline drive, and Trotter hit a free throw to make it 46-42.

That was Brea’s last hurrah.

“We came back on them two or three times,” Sink said, “and then they went on runs, again, caused by our poor defense.”

Redondo scored the next seven points, all under the basket except for one free throw.

Junior Jackie Packard scored 14 for Redondo, sophomore Ofa Tulikihihifo scored 12 and the only senior on the team, Stephanie Wong, scored 10.

The last time they played, in the third game of the season--a 71-41 Brea victory in December in the Ladycat Classic--Redondo seemed overwhelmed by Brea’s tradition, its 11 section titles and seven state championships.

But this time, the Seahawks showed a clear sense of maturity. They started a senior, two juniors and two sophomores, and a freshman, Danielle Payne, came off the bench. Payne scored six, had five rebounds and helped contain Trotter.

Packard played a pivotal role as Redondo seized control of the game. She scored eight points in the first half, four during a 9-0 run that turned a 20-18 deficit into a 27-21 lead with 1:55 left in the second quarter.

“You hate to see the streak go down,” said Sink. “Eleven CIF titles in a row, that’s a streak that I don’t think will ever be equaled.”

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End of the Line

Brea Olinda’s loss to Redondo Beach Redondo Union Friday ended the school’s 11-year streak of Southern Section girls’ basketball championships. The championship seasons, with division and results:

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1989 3-A d. Atascadero, 69-40 1990 3-AA d. Palos Verdes, 50-33 1991 II-AA d. Ventura, 50-42 1992 III-AA d. Morningside, 49-35 1993 II-AA d. Cerritos Gahr, 75-39 1994 III-AA d. Newport Harbor, 70-40 1995 II-A d. Pasadena Muir, 55-43 1996 II-A d. Ocean View, 54-44 1997 II-A d. Moorpark, 57-45 1998 II-AA d. Troy, 52-37 1999 II-AA d. Foothill, 76-45

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