Girls’ Basketball: CdM closes strong

The size discrepancy was obvious at the outset.

What wasn’t obvious for most of the first half, though, was how the Corona del Mar High girls’ basketball team would be able to take advantage of it.

Segerstrom, with no starter above 5-foot-7, gave CdM’s senior posts of 6-4 Natalia Bruening and 6-2 Krista Anderson all they could handle throughout much of Friday night’s CdM Tip-Off Tournament semifinal game.

But the Sea Kings closed strong on their home court.

CdM is back in the championship game of its host tournament after beating the Jaguars, 44-37.

The Sea Kings (3-0), the defending tournament champions, will play Westminster for the title at 7 p.m. Saturday at Laguna Beach High. Westminster got past Tustin, 51-29, in the other semifinal game.

Anderson had 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for CdM. Bruening, who played through foul trouble in the second half before fouling out in the final minute, had 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Senior forward Kat Hess had four points, 11 rebounds and four steals for the winners, who ended the game on a 13-4 run.

“They’re always tough and they’re aggressive on defense,” CdM Coach Mark Decker said of the Jaguars, who beat CdM in the semifinals of this tournament in 2011 and 2012. “I felt like they started to wear down a little bit. They did a phenomenal job in the first quarter and a half of surrounding Natalia and Krista, but you’ve got to work pretty hard to do that. I thought they did a good job, but I think they spent a lot of energy and it wore them down a little bit. I think we relaxed a little bit, too, and started getting what we wanted. That’s a really good early-season game for us.”

CdM was down 16-7 midway through the second quarter but went on a run to tie the score at 18 at halftime. Senior guard Melody Yoo had a key three-pointer in the run.

Bruening left the game with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter after she was called for her fourth foul. The referee said she pushed off trying to grab an offensive rebound on a free throw by Anderson, and Decker was incredulous.

“Her hands are up here getting the rebound,” Decker yelled to the referee, but he was forced to take the two-time Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year out of the contest.

But CdM started picking up its play. Senior point guard Kelly Tam had a couple of nice assists to Anderson inside, the second one giving CdM a 29-26 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“Once we played our game and played at our pace, we really were able to compete with them,” Anderson said. “We needed to do it. If Natalia’s not in the game, everyone has to step up, because she plays a big role on our team. I think when the guards swing it, we take our time and we run through the offense, we do well and we score.”

A layup by Segerstrom junior guard Caroline Jogwe, who led the Jaguars (2-1) with 13 points, gave the visitors a 33-31 edge with about five minutes to go. But CdM finished strong, scoring 12 unanswered points.

Hess’ coast-to-coast layup, followed by two jumpers from sophomore guard Tia Grippo, staked CdM to a 43-33 advantage with 1:05 remaining in the contest.

Decker said that Hess, who is also playing goalie for the CdM girls’ soccer team this season, had her best game of the tournament.

“Kat is Kat,” Decker said. “She hasn’t played a lot of basketball since last season. We’re just trying to get her to be patient and know that she’s getting better and better every game. She has already for three games. This was by far her best game, and she’s still got a long way to go before she gets back to where she was.”

The Sea Kings are back where they were last year, in the final of their host tournament. But Decker knows that Westminster, which has won its three tournament games so far by an average of 24 points, will present a challenge.

“They’re really good, they’re tough,” Decker said. “I’m excited to see how we do against their pressure, because they pressure even more than we saw tonight. But that’s exactly what we need. It’ll be a really good test for us.”

—

CdM Tip-Off Tournament

Semifinal

Corona del Mar 44, Segerstrom 37

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Segerstrom 7 – 11 – 8 – 11 — 37

Corona del Mar 6 – 12 – 9 – 17 — 44

S – Jogwe 13, Vasquez 10, Morrison 9, Zendejas 5.

3-pt. goals – Vasquez 3, Morrison 1, Jogwe 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – Anderson 15, N. Bruening 12, Hess 4, Grippo 4, Yoo 3, Uehara 2, T. Bruening 2.

3-pt. goals – Yoo 1.

Fouled out – N. Bruening.

Technicals – None.