Mater Dei Wins on Last-Second Shot

The shot, Lindsay Pavlik said, “was one of those you do in practice hundreds of times.

“I knew it was going to go in.”

And it did.

Pavlik’s rebound and basket with 2.4 seconds left gave Mater Dei a 44-42 victory over third-seeded Edison Saturday in the Southern Section Division I-A girls’ basketball quarterfinals.

Mater Dei (22-5) will play Moreno Valley, a 63-59 winner over Ventura, in a semifinal scheduled for Tuesday.

Edison finished 24-6.

The game went as both coaches expected, a defensive struggle that prevented either team from developing any offensive rhythm. Neither led by more than six points, and neither scored more than six points in a row. Edison was hurt by its 17 turnovers.

Mater Dei led in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, 34-30, when Edison’s Michelle Zylstra picked up her fourth foul.

It was a costly call because it prevented Zylstra, a 6-foot-1 junior, from being the aggressive defender she normally is. And Pavlik, Mater Dei’s 6-foot junior center, went to work. She was the only Monarch to score over the final 6:36, getting 10 points. She hit a four-foot jumper to give Mater Dei a 42-40 lead with 58 seconds left.

“[Zylstra] wasn’t going for the blocked shots as much, she was going straight up, which made her easier to go around,” Pavlik said. “I could tell she was frustrated.”

Edison’s Christina Patterson made a turnaround jumper that tied the score at 42 with 44 seconds left. Zylstra blocked Pavlik’s shot on one end, tying up the ball and gaining possession for Edison, and Pavlik did the same to Zylstra on the other end with 13 seconds remaining.

After a foul, the decisive play began with 5.8 seconds left under Mater Dei’s basket.

Maile Shimoda inbounded to Kristian Kirkpatrick on the left side. Her shot off the glass missed, but Pavlik was there for the rebound and the game-winner.

“Pavlik’s always right there,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “That’s part of being a good player. She makes things happen.”

Too much time ran off the clock, and officials put 1.4 seconds on it. Trisha Grady’s long pass downcourt went to Patterson, but Pavlik was there to deflect it out of bounds, ending the struggle.

‘You have to give [Pavlik’s] teammates credit,” Mater Dei Coach Ollie Martin said. “They started looking for her, finding her, and delivering the ball to her.”

Pavlik scored 14 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. Anita Colon, Mater Dei’s only senior, scored the other fourth-quarter basket. Maile Shimoda had nine points and Kyra Melville eight for the Monarchs.

Patterson scored seven of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, including the last four, which twice tied the score. Zylstra finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

In other Division I-A games:

Ventura Buena 54, Marina 39--Marina (25-4), the defending champion, played without its second-leading scorer, guard Karyn Fierst (broken foot) and trailed by as many as 22. Natalie Quinn scored 11 for the Vikings. Chanda McLeod, averaging 15 points, scored four against fourth-seeded Buena (24-3).

San Clemente 54, Riverside J.W. North 53--Leading by nine with three minutes left, the Tritons (22-8) converted five of eight free throws to hold off top-seeded North (26-3). Debby Caine scored 17 points and Colleen Turnbull 15. The Tritons will play Buena.