Prep Basketball : McCoy Shoots Down Brea’s Strategy to Lead Point Loma

GOLETA â€”  The Brea-Olinda High School girls’ basketball team accomplished what it set out to do against Point Loma and still lost to the Pointers, 68-50, in the third-place game of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions at Robertson Gymnasium at UC Santa Barbara.

“We’ve got to keep Terri Mann under 50 points,� said Wildcat Coach Mark Trakh, explaining his rather simple, if not tongue-in-cheek strategy.

Not that Mann isn’t capable. She scored 44 points and had 30 rebounds in three quarters of play against Fallbrook earlier this season. Many consider the 6-foot 2-inch junior to be the finest high school player in the state, if not the nation.

The Wildcats limited Mann to 24 points, 6 of those coming after the Pointers had built a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.

Brea-Olinda double-teamed teamed Mann throughout the game, and at every possible opportunity Wildcat point guard Charlene Schuessler would drop off the player she was guarding to triple-team Mann.

However, the player Schuessler was guarding, Point Loma point guard Chanelle McCoy, made the Wildcats pay for the strategy. She hit shots from 15 to 20 feet for a game-high 25 points.

McCoy, only 5-2, would dribble to the baseline and look to Mann at the low post. But with Schuessler dropping off to guard Mann, McCoy was left alone. Eleven of her 12 field goals came from the outside.

Mann and McCoy each had 12 points in the first half as the Pointers took a 31-23 lead.

Schuessler led Brea with 21 points and Carrie Egan added 19.

In the Marina-Edison Tournament:

Seattle Franklin 50, Orange 42--The Panthers nearly upset the highly touted visitors from Washington state, but a turnover in the final minute when Orange was down by only four points dashed any comeback hopes for the Panthers.

Esperanza 64, Huntington Beach 33--Sharon Warmus scored 25 points to lead the Aztecs to the easy win. Esperanza meets Seattle Franklin Thursday.

Edison 74, Long Beach Wilson 22--The Chargers easily defeated the Bruins for their seventh straight win and advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals against Foothill.

Foothill 54, Savanna 34--Senior center Chris McFerson scored 14 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Knights past the Rebels. Felice Geddy, a senior guard, also scored 14 points for Foothill (3-1).

Marina 84, Laguna Hills 39--Sophomores Dawn Charroin and Liberty Brewster scored 21 and 15 points to lead the Vikings to the win. Marina (8-1) advances to Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Mater Dei 57, Los Alamitos 51--Geri Gainey and Hallie Formaneck led the Monarchs to the win by scoring 16 and 13 points. Mater Dei (9-3) meets Marina Thursday.

In Ontario Tournament action:

Whittier Christian 55, Montclair 43--Cindy Vyskocil scored 28 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the Heralds to the first-round victory. Whittier Christian (2-1) meets Duarte Thursday.

In nonleague action:

Magnolia 68, Sunny Hills 39--Senior center Michelle Carter scored a season-high 41 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Sentinels (6-2) past the Lancers (2-6) at Sunny Hills. Carter was 17 of 31 from the field and 7 of 14 from the free-throw line. Teammate Dawne Borum, a sophomore guard, scored 15 points.