Girls basketball: Eagles escape at Northwood

Richard Dunn

IRVINE - With the host Northwood High Timberwolves a little extra

fired up for the Pacific Coast League girls basketball opener Tuesday

night, Estancia’s Eagles came away with the great escape.

Once leading by 15 points, Coach Paul Kirby’s Eagles held their

collective breath as the Timberwolves attempted two three-point shots in

the final seconds to tie the game, but both misfired and Estancia (8-9

overall) walked away with a 44-41 victory.

“It got interesting in the second half,” said Kirby, whose team built

a 26-11 advantage in the second quarter and enjoyed a 14-point lead early

in the third quarter.

Northwood (3-14), playing its first game in almost a month with

6-foot-2 junior center Aabria Lipscomb, outscored Estancia in the second

half, 24-15.

“It was an exciting game, but I would like to have seen one of those

three-pointers go in at the end,” said Northwood Coach Ron Hansen, who

called a timeout with 18 seconds left to set up a play for a three-point

shot.

Ann Huang missed Northwood’s first attempt, but the T-wolves secured

the offensive glass and got another chance. Then Lindsay Macias missed

from beyond the arc with 0:02 to play and the Eagles’ Xochitl Byfield

grabbed the rebound as time ran out.

“I’m very proud of our girls. They never gave up,” Hansen said. “They

were pumped up, because the Daily Pilot basically said Northwood will be

battling Laguna Beach for last place (in the PCL this season), and I

brought in that article to motivate the girls.”

Northwood, a different team with Lipscomb in the lineup, lost all

seven preleague games that Lipscomb missed because of a sprained finger

and stomach flu.

“I keep telling her that she’s a gold mine and that we’re just now

tapping into it,” Hansen said of Lipscomb, who finished with a game-high

20 points and 14 rebounds (six offensive).

Estancia, picked by the Daily Pilot to win the league title, was led

by 5-9 junior Tisha Gray (16 points, eight rebounds and four steals) and

sophomore point guard Trisha Wase (11 points, six rebounds, five steals

and four assists).

“The momentum started to change (in the third quarter),” Kirby said.

“We were still up by eight points (39-31 after three quarters), but we

were getting outhustled, we weren’t getting any breaks and Wase was

missing layups with nobody guarding her. But we picked ourselves up and

good things happened.”

Estancia trailed Northwood early, 9-6, but Wase scored on a 10-foot

jumper with 2:33 left on the first-quarter clock to ignite a 20-2 scoring

run that lasted midway through the second quarter. Wase capped the streak

with a layup after a steal and pass by Crystal Mino (two assists and one

steal).

The Eagles, who led at halftime, 29-17, were also sparked by Marie

Rodriguez, who provided three of team-high six steals in the opening

period.