South Coast League Girls’ Basketball : Peaking Capistrano Valley Beats El Toro, 57-52

Greg Yeck, El Toro High School girls’ basketball coach, said before Tuesday night’s South Coast League opener that he would rather have met some opponent other than Capistrano Valley.

The reason why became clear enough after the Cougars upset second-ranked El Toro, 57-52, at El Toro High School. Capistrano Valley (11-4), ranked sixth in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll, is a vastly improved team from the start of the season.

“We are definitely peaking at the right time,” said Stan DeMaggio, Capistrano Valley coach. “This ranks as one of the biggest victories in my coaching career.”

The Cougars were lead by off-guard Heather Schoeny, who scored a game-high 24 points and had 9 rebounds.

El Toro (14-3) was outrebounded in the first half, 24-16, but trailed by only two, 30-28, at halftime.

The lead changed hands six times in the second half, but Capo Valley finally clinched the game when guard Angie Capone sank two free throws with 41 seconds left giving the Cougars a four-point lead, 56-52. Capone finished with 13 points and 6 assists.

Elaine Youngs was El Toro’s leading scorer with 17 points while playing with an sprained right ankle. Teammate Kristen Bevis added 12.

Mission Viejo 55, San Clemente 42--Mission Viejo won the league opener at home as Tina Ranker scored 24 points. Mission Viejo is 12-4.