Girls basketball: Eagles teach Northwood a lesson

Tony Altobelli

IRVINE - It was a win for both schools Thursday night.

The visiting Estancia High girls basketball team took care of host

Northwood, 57-27, and remained atop the Pacific Coast League standings.

The freshman and sophomore-heavy Timberwolves (8-13, 0-4 in league)

took another step toward becoming a PCL contender in the not-to-distant

future with spirited play and determination.

“We certainly didn’t outplay them tonight, that’s for sure,” Estancia

Coach Paul Kirby said of the T-wolves. “They have a lot of solid, young

players over there and they’re very well coached. We had some trouble

guarding some of their players and it showed at times.”

Fortunately for the Eagles (12-7, 4-0), what also showed throughout

the game was the Timberwolves’ inexperience, a factor Estancia took

advantage of.

Estancia combined its full-court pressure with spurts of effective

shooting to control the game from the opening whistle.

The Eagles had runs of 16-0, 11-0 and 10-0 (twice), which accounted

for 47 of their 57 points.

Sophomore Xochitl Byfield led the Eagles with 20 points and eight

rebounds, while senior Lisa Hirata added 10 points and five assists.

“Xochitl had some nice drives to the basket and she managed to hit a

couple of three-pointers, too,” Kirby said. “She’s playing out of

position and has bigger people guarding her so Xochitl has to use her

quickness to be effective.”

Byfield scored 13 points in the first quarter. After Northwood scored

the game’s first point, Estancia went on an 11-0 run and led, 18-8, after

one period.

The T-wolves’ Holly Miles (10 points) drained a three-pointer to cut

the lead to seven, but a 10-0 Eagle run pushed the lead to 28-11.

Northwood, however, hung tough, scoring the quarter’s final six points

to trail by 11 at the half.

Northwood started off well in the third quarter and cut the lead to

nine before the Eagles took flight.

Three-pointers by Byfield and Hirata, a basket by Trisha Wase (eight

points) and two Byfield free throws pushed Estancia’s lead back up to 17.

The Timberwolves’ Leslie Curtis hit a three-pointer to open the fourth

quarter, trimming the lead to 14, but it was all Eagles from there.

A 16-0 run closed out the game for Estancia. Senior Zuyin Barrera

scored all six of her points in that run, while Marie Rodriguez added

five.

It wasn’t pretty, but, in the end, the Eagles remain alone in first

place in the PCL.

“A win is a win and we’ll take them happily,” Kirby said. “We’ve just

got to keep our intensity up for the entire game if we want to stay where

we are.”

Next up on the Eagles’ schedule is University, at home, beginning at 7

p.m. Tuesday. The Trojans are tied for second place in the PCL with Costa

Mesa, a game behind the Eagles.

“We’ve just got to play them one game at a time,” Kirby said. “After

Uni, we’ve got Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar. We’ve beaten them both, so

you know they’ll be looking for revenge.”

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Estancia 57, Northwood 27

Score by Quarters

Estancia 18 10 13 16 - 57

Northwood 8 9 7 3 - 27

Estancia - Byfield 20, Hirata 10, Wase 8, Barrera 6, Rodriguez 5,

Cassity 2, Gray 2, Orellana 2, Vasquez 2, Matsufuji 0, Cachola 0.

3 pt. goals - Byfield 2, Rodriguez 1, Hirata 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - none.

Northwood -Miles 10, Lipscomb 7, Rezaei 5, Curtis 3, Nichols 2.

3 pt. goals - Miles 2, Curtis 1.

Fouled out - none.

Technical fouls - none.