DIVISION III-A : St. Bernard Hands Rancho Alamitos First Loss of Year

GARDEN GROVE —  Rancho Alamitos suffered its first loss of the season Wednesday night, falling to St. Bernard, 74-72, in a Division III-A semifinal game at Bolsa Grande High School.

Rancho Alamitos held a 67-64 lead with 2 minutes 39 seconds left in the game.

But St. Bernard guard Joi Turner hit a layup, and after Rancho Alamitos guard Marlene Rodriguez was called for traveling, the Vikings’ Shameka McArthur scored for a 68-67 St. Bernard lead.

Rancho Alamitos’ Shannon James fouled out with 2:01 left in the game, and 13 seconds later, her sister, Timirie, did the same, both with offensive fouls.

With a minute and a half to go, Viking guard Kelly Shimabukuro hit her first three-pointer of the game, and St. Bernard (24-6)led by five. After another Rancho Alamitos basket, Vaquero guard Melinda Lira fouled out.

“That (three players fouling out) was a major factor,” said Rancho Alamitos Coach Bob Becker, whose team finished 28-1. “Those three are instrumental in our offense.” Timirie James had 17 points, while Shannon James had eight and Lira had seven.

“I think officials tried to even it (foul calls) up, and they overcompensated,” Becker said. “The fouls could have been either way--they could have been blocking as well as charging, and both (James’ fouls) were on St. Bernard players who had four fouls.”

With 22 seconds left, Anita Stecker made the front end of a one-and-one, to bring the Vaqueros to with within one, 73-72, but McArthur hit one of two free throws five seconds later, and guard Yara Santini’s last-second shot was an airball.

“They were able to run with us,” Becker said. “Every other team we’ve played has run out of gas, but they were able to sustain and stayed with us.

“They were bigger than we had expected, so the more shots they got off, the more rebounds they could get,” he said.

Not one starting Rancho Alamitos player was more than 5-feet-7, while St. Bernard has two 5-10 forwards and a 6-3 center, Olympia Scott, who had 11 rebounds.

Turner led both teams with 25 points and Stecker had 24.