Girls basketball: Estancia waits, watches

Barry Faulkner

CERRITOS - Pacific Coast League girls basketball co-champion

Estancia High will have to wait until Saturday for its postseason to

begin. But fellow CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoff

representative Costa Mesa will play its second playoff game Thursday.

Coach Paul Kirby’s Eagles, who claimed a share of the program’s first

PCL title since 1991 with a decisive 48-25 thumping of co-champion

University Thursday, received a first-round bye when pairings were

announced Sunday at Gahr High.

Estancia will host the Morningside-La Canada winner Saturday in the

second round of the bracket, which had only 24 teams to fill its 32

spots.

Costa Mesa (12-15), which defeated Northwood, 58-49, in a PCL playoff

for third place which extended into overtime Friday, visits No. 4-seeded

Rosary (15-13) Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Estancia (16-10), winner of 11 of its last 12, including five straight

after a surprising 43-41 loss at Uni Jan. 22, is among eight league

champions in the division to receive a first-round bye, much to the

dismay of Kirby.

“I’d rather be playing Thursday,” said Kirby, who is concerned about

the effects of what will be a nine-day layoff before Saturday’s

second-round contest.

“But I guess we’ll be well-rested,” he said. “And we’ll get a chance

Thursday to scout the team we’re going to play.”

Kirby said he plans to bring up five junior varsity players to help

bolster a roster that has included only seven players most of the season.

The Eagles will be led by sophomore point guard Trisha Wase, junior

center Tisha Gray and junior forward Xochitl Byfield.

“Those girls won’t be intimidated by (No. 3-seeded) Morningside,”

Kirby said.

The Eagles were eliminated by Morningside, 61-38, in a CIF Division

III-A quarterfinal in 1999.

Coach Jim Week’s Costa Mesa squad won three straight and four of its

last five against league foes, including a pair of overtime triumphs over

Northwood.

The first overtime conquest, Jan. 29, was set up by a 35-foot

desperation three-pointer by Rhondi Naff to tie it at the regulation

buzzer.

“I told our girls, if we went to the playoffs, that shot would be the

turning point in our season,” Weeks said.

Naff, after some early struggles in league, has returned to the form

that made her a prolific offensive force in the preleague campaign. She

averaged 22.3 points in three wins last week.

Mesa, which extended the school’s streak of postseason appearances to

13 seasons after a 2-4 league start, earned praise from Weeks for

salvaging its season.

“Except for the third quarter against Estancia (Jan. 31), we’ve had a

solid six or seven games,” Weeks said. “We know we have a tough matchup

in Rosary. But if we beat (the Royals), our season would turn glorious.”

If Costa Mesa should manage the upset, it would visit Montview League

champion Gladstone (16-5) Saturday.

Bishop Montgomery (19-4) is the No. 1 seed in III-A, while Muir (22-4)

is the No. 2 seed.