Girls basketball: Eagles share PCL title

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - The prefix matters little to Estancia High girls

basketball coach Paul Kirby. But, he admitted, his players may feel

differently after the Eagles became Pacific Coast League co-champions

Thursday with a 48-25 rout of visiting University.

The win, by a margin just two points fewer than the Eagles defeated

last-place Laguna Beach Tuesday, avenged a 43-41 loss at Uni Jan. 22. It

also allowed the Eagles (16-10, 9-1 in league) to catch the Trojans

(17-8, 9-1) atop the league standings. Both will go to the CIF Southern

Section playoffs as No. 1 representatives, since they will play in

different divisions.

“To me, a league championship is a league championship,” Kirby said of

the program’s first crown since 1991. “But if you ask (Eagle players),

they are probably disappointed.”

Estancia junior Xochitl Byfield, who paced the win with a career-high

22 points, backed up Kirby’s instincts.

“We felt like we should have won the first (league game against Uni),”

Byfield said. “This year we have to share (the league crown), but next

year, it’s going to be all ours.”

The Eagles seized a portion of the title by stifling University’s

offense. The visitors had just seven field goals the first three quarters

and never led after taking a 2-0 advantage.

Estancia ran to an 11-4 first-quarter lead. After Uni closed the gap

to 13-11, a Byfield three-pointer, the first of her three connections

from beyond the arc, helped put the hosts back in command.

Junior Tisha Gray scored Estancia’s first seven points of the second

half and Byfield added the final eight of the third quarter, including

back-to-back three-pointers, and the rout was on.

Gray finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore point

guard Trisha Wase chipped in 10 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.

Though his “Big Three” all had standout games, Kirby said Gray’s

interior defense was the biggest turnaround from the Jan. 22 loss.

“(University center Chelsea) York dominated in that game,” Kirby

recalled of the sophomore’s 16 points and 12 boards. “But Tisha basically

shut her down tonight.”

York finished with 1 point and seven rebounds.

“Our kids played like they really wanted it tonight,” Kirby said.

Uni Coach Bob Bernal said the Eagles deserve to be called champions.

“(Estancia) is the better team,” Bernal said. “(Gray, Byfield and

Wase) are really good and athletic and they just wanted it more than we

did.”University shot just 23% from the field (11 of 48) and its 15

turnovers were two more than Estancia committed.

The Eagles, winners of five straight and 11 of their last 12, learn

their CIF Division III-A draw when pairings are announced Sunday.

GIRLS

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Estancia 48, University 25

Score by Quarters

University 4 8 5 8 - 25

Estancia 11 7 15 15 - 48

University - Janda 9, Sutter 4, York 1, Ariazand 7, Yeo 4.

3-pt. goals - none.

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.

Estancia - Byfield 22, Gray 11, Wase 10, Rodriguez 5, Mino 0, Castro

0, Pena 0.

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

Fouled out - none.

Technicals - none.