Girls basketball: Eagles upset by Uni, 45-38

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - Finding the Achilles’ heel is becoming habit for the

University High girls basketball team. The Trojans’ latest victim,

Pacific Coast League leader Estancia, fell Tuesday, 45-38.

University (11-9, 4-1 in league) scored its upset on the road and the

result was similar to the Trojans’ victory at defending PCL-champion

Corona del Mar Thursday. Uni used a solid defense that forced the Eagles

(12-8, 4-1) to rely on the outside shot.

Down, 24-21, at halftime, the Trojans outscored Estancia, 13-5, as the

Eagles shot 1 of 10 from the field.

“I expected to win,” said Estancia Coach Paul Kirby, who called Uni’s

win an upset. “They came out and played better than we did tonight. We

just have to regroup. We have a big game against Costa Mesa on Thursday.

We just have to put this one behind us.”

Sophomore Trisha Wase led the Eagles with 11 points, all in the first

half. Uni’s Danielle Janda scored a game-high 13 points and Trojans’

senior center Kirsten von Tungeln finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds, 11 in the second half. She is Orange County’s leading

rebounder, averaging 15.8 a game.

“I definitely think this is an upset,” Uni Coach Bob Bernal said. “We

made them beat us from outside, kind of like the Corona game. They came

out in the beginning and I was about ready to say, ‘Let’s hurry up and

get out of here. Start the bus.’ But, we fought back.”

Estancia opened with a 12-3 lead on four three-pointers with Wase

hitting three straight. But, the Trojans used an 11-2 run to close out

the first quarter.

Uni junior point guard Shaadi Ariazand (10 points) stole the ball and

drove the length of the court to convert a layup at the buzzer, catching

the Eagles, 14-14.

Estancia did not hit a three-pointer in the second quarter, missing

five. The Eagles finished 6 of 24 from behind the arc (25%).

“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we could,” Kirby said. “But, a

lot of that had to do with their defense. They were all over the place.

We maybe shot the ball too much instead of getting the ball inside.

Defensively, we did a terrible job.”

Uni freshman forward Amanda Sutter knocked down a jump shot to break a

21-21 tie and the Trojans never looked back.

The Eagles ended the first half without a free-throw attempt. They

finished 7 of 14, but gave the Trojans more free-throw opportunities as

Wase, Xochitl Byfield and Lisa Hirata fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Uni shot 4 of 10 from the free-throw line before halftime and Estancia

did not reach the charity stripe until two and a half minutes into the

third quarter.

“I’m not surprised,” Kirby said of the Eagles’ zero free-throw

attempts in the first half. “No one was trying to drive inside. They were

just settling for the three-point shot.”

Estancia hit its only field goal of the third quarter with 25 seconds

remaining, as sophomore Tisha Gray connected on a layup. She finished

with 10 rebounds and seven points.

The Eagles came within 10 with 2:42 remaining. But the Trojans quickly

regained momentum when Andrea Lee hit a three-pointer.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

University 45, Estancia 38

University 14 10 13 8 - 45

Estancia 14 7 5 12 - 38

University - Janda 13, von Tungeln 11, Ariazand 10, Yeo 4, Lee 3,

Farrell 2, Sutter 2.

3-pt. goals - Lee 1.

Fouled out - von Tungeln.

Technicals - none.

Estancia - Wase 11, Rodriguez 7, Gray 7, Byfield 5, Matsufuji 4,

Hirata 3, Barrera 1, Orellana 0, Cachola 0, Vasquez 0, Johnson 0.

3-pt. goals - Wase 3, Rodriguez 2, Hirata 1, Matsufuji 1.

Fouled out - Hirata, Byfield, Wase.

Technicals - none.