SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL FINALS : DIVISION III GIRLS : Panthers Rebound to Advance

ANAHEIM —  If you’re going to miss shots--and the Newbury Park High girls’ team missed plenty--you’d better get the rebounds.

Shooting only 38% from the field and dominating on the offensive boards probably was not Newbury Park’s strategy Saturday, but the persistence paid off. The Panthers defeated Santee Santana, 67-57, at The Pond in Anaheim, making them champions once again and sending them to the state final.

The Panthers (31-1), winners of 26 in a row and Southern Section Division III-AA champions, will face Archbishop Mitty (27-3) at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

“It’s been an incredible week,” Newbury Park Coach Nori Parvin said. “We are still in awe of what’s happened with this team.”

Santana’s Monica Pope knew exactly what happened to her team. As she shook her head, she summed it up in one word: “Rebounds.”

Newbury Park, the top-ranked Division III team in the state, held a whopping 26-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Panthers held an overall rebounding edge of 53-30.

“They killed us on the boards,” Santana Coach Wade Vickery said.

Newbury Park’s Kara McKeown, the leading rebounder in school history, led the Panthers with 15, 10 at the offensive end. She turned many of those rebounds into layups on her way to a team-leading 20 points.

“I think we needed to cut down on their second shots and make sure we got second shots,” McKeown said. “That’s been the key to the whole season.”

Another key for the Panthers was shutting down Santana’s Kelly Simers in the second half.

Simers, a sophomore three-point specialist, scored 12 points in the first half on three-of-seven shooting from three-point range.

Newbury Park had led most of the first half, by as many as 12 points, but Simers’ shooting carried the Sultans to a 27-26 halftime lead.

Unfortunately for Santana, Newbury Park regrouped at the break.

“Basketball games are like gambling,” Vickery said. “When you’re hot you want to keep going. Another two minutes would have been nice.”

When Newbury Park came out in the second half, the Panthers took back the scoring momentum, taking a 41-35 lead.

They also shut down Simers, holding her scoreless in the second half.

“They took me out of the game,” Simers said. “It took my confidence. In the second half I tried a lot of things, but nothing worked. They did a good job.”

McKeown, Julie Wastell and Renee Intlekofer each guarded Simers at times in the second half.

Santana (32-2) pulled to within one point on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but Newbury Park fended off the attacks.

Parvin attributed the composure down the stretch to her team having five senior starters.

Vickery wasn’t so sure that mattered.

“I think the most-important factor is they are pretty darn good, no matter what grade they are in,” he said.

“I’d rather be young and good than experienced and lousy, but good and experienced is the best possible combination you can have. They are the best team we’ve faced all year.”

Wastell had 11 points and six assists.

Jann Thorpe, who scored 10 points, gave the Panthers a scare when she was hit in the face chasing a loose ball late in the fourth quarter. She suffered a bloody gash above her lip.