Girls basketball: Eagles fly past Sea Kings

Richard Dunn

COSTA MESA - At this rate, Estancia High’s Eagles could win the

Pacific Coast League girls basketball championship.

But staying at the rate they reached Thursday night against visiting

Corona del Mar might be asking a lot, considering Coach Paul Kirby’s

Eagles shot 50% from the field in the second half (15 of 30) and

committed only two turnovers in that span as they defeated CdM, 63-25, in

PCL action.

“They’re the best team in the league,” CdM Coach Elbert Davis said.

“If you don’t come to play against a good team like Estancia, you’ll get

a good ol’ fashioned butt whopping, and that’s what it was.”

The Sea Kings (6-11, 1-1 in the PCL), already missing their two best

players (Jackie McCoy and Carrie Hawkins) for the season because of knee

injuries, lost shooting guard Courtney Kawata in the second quarter after

she hit the floor face first on a loose ball. After later complaining of

chest pains, Kawata was taken to a hospital for observation.

The Eagles (9-9, 2-0), who shot 42.5% from the floor (23 of 54), were

led by junior forward Tisha Gray, who scored a game-high 20 points,

grabbed nine rebounds, added four steals, dished out two assists and

blocked one shot.

“That was probably the best we’ve shot all season, and we picked a

good time to do it,” Kirby said. “We just need to do it again Tuesday

against Costa Mesa.”

Estancia drained a season-high nine three-pointers (on 22 attempts) as

senior Marie Rodriguez and freshman Imelda Pena each made three to lead

the onslaught.

“(The Eagles) are hitting on all cylinders, and if they continue to

play like that, nobody’s going to beat them,” Davis said. “They have an

inside game and an outside game and there’s nothing you can do. If they

come ready to play, nobody can beat them.”

After an 11-5 lead after one quarter, the Eagles built a 25-11

advantage in the second period after a 14-3 run, keyed by Nancy Castro’s

four points and Xochitl Byfield’s pair of field goals.

“Everybody was making their shots and we were hustling,” said Gray,

the only player to score in every quarter.

Estancia held a 25-16 halftime lead, then exploded in the third

quarter, netting 7 of 12 from the floor and outscoring the Sea Kings,

19-2.

The Eagles, 7 of 15 from three-point territory in the second half,

outscored CdM in the fourth, 19-7, as Gray, Pena and point guard Trisha

Wase (10 points, six rebounds and four steals) hit three-pointers in the

final 1:29 to cap the blitz.

“When we shoot the ball that well, it’s tough to match up against us,”

Kirby said.

Andrea Gruber led CdM with 11 points and five rebounds, while teammate

Lucy Ramsey came off the bench to produce seven rebounds.