San Diego Defeats Long Beach Poly

It was hard not to notice the disappointment in the faces of Long Beach Poly players, and it was easy to understand.

The Jackrabbits have one of the finest defenses around -- and they had just been torched for a Southern Regional finals record 43 points by San Diego’s Charde Houston.

The Connecticut-bound forward helped San Diego to a 71-61 Division I victory over Poly, which led by eight points with less than 9 1/2 minutes remaining Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Houston took the record from Candice Wiggins of La Jolla Country Day, who had set the standard with 41 about an hour earlier in that school’s 78-45 victory over Los Angeles Marlborough in the Division IV championship at Cal State Fullerton. The previous record was 39 by Brandi Collato of Solana Beach Santa Fe Christian in the 2000 Division V final.

San Diego (31-3), ranked ninth in the state, will play for the state title against Oakland Tech, a 52-49 winner over Elk Grove Laguna Creek. The Cavers are the first San Diego Section team to play for a Division I title since Teri Mann led Point Loma to four consecutive state titles, the last in 1987.

Poly, ranked third in the state and second in the Southland, finished 29-4. The Jackrabbits were led by April Phillips with 22 points, but their leading scorer this season, Judith Smith, had only five points in a two-for-13 performance from the field that included 0-for-10 shooting from three-point range.

“Our goal was to neutralize Houston and we didn’t get it done,” Poly Coach Carl Buggs said. “We take pride in playing defense, it’s supposed to be our forte, but you’d never know from that.”

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Fullerton Troy 47, Santa Ana Mater Dei 25 -- Troy’s leading scorer, Meghan McGuire, played only 17 minutes because of a sprained ankle and scored only two points, but that didn’t get in the way of Troy earning the right to defend its Division II state title.

Sophomore Rhaya Neabors started in place of McGuire and led Troy with 12 points and contributed six rebounds and three assists in the Division II regional final at the Sports Arena.

Troy (33-1), ranked seventh in the state, will play Friday in Sacramento against Concord Carondolet, a 56-32 winner over San Jose Archbishop Mitty. Mater Dei (19-12), which entered the Southern Section playoffs as a wild-card team, finished 19-12.

The 25 points scored by Mater Dei was the second-lowest in regional final history, and the Monarchs avoided matching the previous low -- held by Trona in a 36-23 loss in Division V in 1988 -- because Colleen Nanry scored from 17 feet with 52 seconds left.

Martin Henderson

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La Jolla Country Day 78, Los Angeles Marlborough 45 -- Stanford-bound guard Candice Wiggins held the regional finals scoring record for less than an hour after her 41 points led Country Day to the Division IV title at Cal State Fullerton.

Wiggins made 15 of 25 shots, including seven of 14 three-pointers. She scored 26 points in the second half. Wiggins averaged 41 points in the three regional games, scoring 50 in the semifinal Thursday.

Sophomore center Abi Olajuwon led the Mustangs (28-4) with 25 points and 15 rebounds and senior guard Emily Tay had 11 points and three assists.

San Luis Obispo Mission Prep 54, Visalia Central Valley Christian 22 -- Katherine Suderman scored 16 points to lead the Central Section champions to victory in the Division V final at Cal State Fullerton. It was the second consecutive season Mission Prep defeated Central Section runner-up Central Valley Christian in the regional final.

Suderman, a 6-5 UC Santa Barbara-bound center, had 13 rebounds and four blocks for Mission Prep (19-7).

-- Elia Powers