Sports
El Toro Girls Succumb to Woodbridge's Long-Range Attack
Chargers slow down two high-scoring Warriors, but can't stop the entire teaml as Woodbridge rolls to a 51-31 nonleague victory at home.
After Sarah Lipton and Samantha Doucette accounted for 43 of the Woodbridge High girls basketball team's 56 points in a Dec. 15 blowout victory over El Toro, the Chargers were determined to shut down the Warriors' two stars during the nonleague rematch Saturday night in Irvine.
While El Toro was able to hold Lipton and Doucette to a combined 21 points, Woodbridge proved to be more than just a two-trick pony with an impressive team-wide offensive display, draining nine three-pointers, including six in a barn-blazing first half, and cruised to a 51-31 victory.
"This is not where we want to be heading into the last two league games," El Toro coach Erin Schimeneck said. "We knew the importance of at least coming out and playing with some emotion. This was a test. I told the girls, 'We lost to this team by 18 in December, let's see where we're at now.'
"To lose by 20, it's a setback. I didn't expect it. We came out flat, they came out on fire. [The Warriors] are talented players, but when you don't play with any emotion, then you start to play intimidated, and that's what happened to us."
Woodbridge shot to a quick 9-0 lead before Reanna Karp finally got the Chargers on the board with a three-pointer at the 3:33 mark of the first quarter.
The basket would be Karp's last of the evening, and one of only two three-pointers El Toro would connect on.
Meanwhile, the Warriors, ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1A coaches' poll, broke it open just a minute into the second quarter when Emma Shimizu spun through the lane and dished off to Doucette for a dazzling assist, then followed it up with another help, this one to Jazzi Hasawy, who sent in a three-pointer that made it 17-7.
"The plan was to deny [Lipton and Doucette] completely and let their other shooters shoot," Schimeneck said. "I didn't expect them to rattle off nine three-pointers. I mean, these are not star players, but they were on fire tonight."
Lipton put on a show of her own just before halftime when she drained a triple from the right corner, stole the inbounds pass and sent in a layup with .02 seconds left on the clock, making it 32-13 heading into the locker room.
El Toro, ranked No. 8 in Division 1A, was able to respond in the second half, led by a scrappy performance from Whitney Williams, who picked up four steals to complement eight points, all coming on drives to the hoop and one-and-one free throws.
Alyson Doherty led the way for the Chargers with 14 points and eight rebounds despite struggling to find her usual offensive rhythm.
"I was proud of the girls for how they played in the fourth quarter," Schimeneck said. "We finally said, 'You know what? Stop bullying us.' They finally got angry and played with a chip on their shoulders, and they played a much more aggressive fourth quarter."
Although the loss was ugly, it should be relatively easy to shake off for the Chargers, who must now turn their attention to the task of winning a South Coast League championship.
A road contest at Laguna Hills Thursday will go a long way in deciding the league champion, as both the Chargers (17-7 overall) and Hawks (20-3) sit at 5-1 atop the standings with two games remaining.
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El Toro -- 7 6 6 12 -- 31
Woodbridge -- 12 19 11 8 -- 51
El Toro (17-7) -- Alyson Doherty 14, Whitney Williams 8, Maria Martinez 4, Reanna Karp 3, Tiffany Troung 2.
Woodbridge (18-3) -- Sarah Lipton 15, Maddy Page 9, Nikki Kraus 6, Samantha Doucette 6, Jazzi Hasawy 6, Emma Shimizu 3, Hannah Bartolo 1.
