Sea Kings advance to finals

Steve Virgen

The Corona del Mar High girls basketball team won mainly because

it was not in the zone ... zone defense, that is.

With 6:21 remaining and the Sea Kings down, 30-29, CdM Coach James

Barkalow called a timeout. He told his players to switch into a

man-to-man defense, rather than the zone defense they were in. The

Sea Kings outscored Rancho Alamitos, 7-1, over the next 3:10 and held

on for a 41-39 victory that advanced them to the final of the

Cavalier Classic at Santiago High.

CdM (5-7) will face El Modena in the championship game tonight 8.

“We were getting a little lazy in the zone (defense),” Barkalow

said. “I told the girls in the timeout that we were either going to

lose or win with the man-to-man. The girls stepped up and played good

defense.”

Corona del Mar scored 12 points in the first half, but came back

with 29 points in the final 16 minutes.

CdM senior Kelliann Klein scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in

the second half. Junior Lauren Snell added nine points. She blocked a

three-point shot attempt by a Rancho Alamitos player with about five

minutes to play and scored two points in CdM’s 7-1 fourth-quarter run.

Klein nailed two three-pointers in the third quarter, when CdM

overcame a 15-12 halftime deficit. Her second three-pointer, a

baseline bomb that bounced off the side of the rim, hit the backboard

and went in, gave the Sea Kings a 20-19 lead with 4:08 left in the

third.

Then, Corona outscored Rancho Alamitos, 6-2, to close out the

period. Klein scored nine of the Sea Kings’ 15 points in the quarter.

The Vaqueros got back in the game with three consecutive

three-pointers that prompted the Sea Kings to dump their zone

defense. Rancho Alamitos’ Cindy Nguyen knocked down her second

straight three-pointer that gave the Vaqueros a 30-29 lead. But the

Sea Kings quickly responded.

CdM also hit 6 of 9 free throws down the stretch, four from senior

Jackie McCoy and two from senior Madison Otterbein. Rancho Alamitos’

Arica Almaraz swished in a buzzer-beating three-pointer to cut the

deficit, 41-39.

“I like the way we didn’t quit,” Barkalow said. “We started out

slow. We scored only three points in the second quarter. (The

Vaqueros) started to play better. But my girls just wouldn’t quit.”

Cavalier Classic

CdM 41, Rancho 39

Score by Quarters

Rancho 9 6 6

18 -- 39

CdM 9 3 15

14 -- 41

Rancho Alamitos -- Almaraz 6, Whitney 12, C. Nguyen 8, P. Nguyen 7, Sia 6.

3-pt. goals -- Almaraz 2, C. Nguyen 2, Whitney 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.

Corona del Mar -- Marks 2, Klein 17, McCoy 6, Otterbein 6, Snell

9, Dimas 1.

3-pt. goals -- Klein 2.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.