Eagles lose ground

LAGUNA BEACH — You can’t say Coach Xavier Castellano didn’t warn his Estancia High girls’ basketball team.

The Eagles traveled to Laguna Beach, a team with two victories. A win on Thursday night against the lowly Breakers kept Estancia all alone atop the Orange Coast League.

“You guys can’t come here thinking we’re going to walk all over them, we’re not,” Castellano said.

The first-year head coach was right.

Laguna Beach pulled off a 61-55 upset, ruining the Eagles’ opportunity to take sole possession of first place in league.

This one featured a lot of drama for Estancia, (14-9, 5-2 in league), ranked No. 13 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A coaches’ poll. Two players received technical fouls, two starters fouled out, and Castellano almost earned a technical as well.

When it ended, Castellano approached one of the referees and told him he did a great job.

“You saw [how the game was officiated],” Castellano said. “I’m not going to say anything about that.”

Castellano finally got out of the referee’s face. Then the first words out of Castellano’s mouth were, “We didn’t come ready.”

He repeated the sentence three times.

At the time, Castellano didn’t realize the Eagles missed out on a golden opportunity at Laguna Beach (3-17, 2-5).

Godinez beat Calvary Chapel, 44-43, Thursday night, leaving Godinez, Calvary Chapel and Estancia with two league losses each.

If Estancia had beaten the Breakers for the second time this season, it would have clinched at least a share of the league championship, the program’s first since the 2002-03 season.

Instead, Estancia plays host to Calvary Chapel in a regular-season finale Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The Grizzlies wrapped up their regular season Thursday. Now, Godinez waits and sees who it will split the league crown with in its first varsity season.

Godinez can thank Laguna Beach.

Out of the three victories this season, two of them have come in league play, Costa Mesa and now Estancia.

Emily Writer played a major role in both. The sophomore didn’t live up to her 51-point performance on Jan. 22 against the Mustangs.

Castellano heard and read all about it, Writer smashing Laguna Beach’s single-game points record.

The versatile player finished with a game-high 32 points and added 10 rebounds and four steals. Eleven of those points came in the fourth quarter.

No other Laguna Beach player scored in the final eight minutes. It seemed like Estancia hammered Writer every time she touched the ball.

With the two Soto sisters, Erika and Brenda, fouling out less than two minutes apart in the fourth, the Eagles had no one who could guard Writer down the stretch.

One time the Eagles sent Writer face first toward the scorer’s table. Writer pulled herself together, converting one free throw to give Laguna Beach a 61-55 lead with 79 seconds left.

Fouling Writer proved to be the Eagles’ strategy. She hurt them by making 18 of 26 from the free-throw line. After the game, Castellano admitted it was a mistake.

“We put too much [of our] focus on her,” Castellano said.

Trying to slow down Writer opened up opportunities for others.

One of those players taking advantage was Katie Daff, who finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.

The senior forward buried six three-pointers in the first three quarters, accounting for all of her points. Daff devastated the Eagles’ hopes in the third quarter of taking their first lead since early in the second quarter.

Estancia went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Then Daff knocked down her fifth three-pointer.

Kassie Stratton answered right back, recording two of her team-high 23 points.

Eighty-two seconds later, Daff swished another three and the Breakers went on to take a 50-40 lead into the fourth.

“She played her best game [of] her [entire] career,” Laguna Beach Coach Jon Hendrickson said. “She just didn’t want to go out as a loser.”

This game marked the last home game of Daff’s four-year career at Laguna Beach. She made it count and it was payback after the Eagles slammed the Breakers, 60-36, on Jan. 20.

Castellano remembers the game quite well. His Eagles had improved to 3-0 in league play, but he still felt cautious after the game.

“The [teams] I was scared of [were] Calvary and Laguna,” Castellano said. “I knew they were going to get one on us.”

You can’t say Castellano didn’t warn his Eagles.

Orange Coast League

Laguna Beach 61, Estancia 55

SCORE BY QUARTERS

E – Stratton 23, E. Soto 11, Asher 9, Maldonado 7, Martinez 3, Stafford 2.

3-pt. goals – Maldonado 2, Martinez 1, Stratton 1.

Fouled out – E. Soto, B. Soto.

Technicals – Stratton, Asher.

LB – Writer 32, Daff 18, Garner 10, Berri 1.

3-pt. goals – Daff 6.

Fouled out – Berri.

Technicals – None.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.