OC Register
Woodbridge’s girls basketball team has plenty of work to do before it can bring back the Pacific Coast League title to the school.
But the Warriors took a significant step toward that goal Tuesday night with a 40-37 PCL victory over Corona del Mar, a team that Woodbridge coach Eric Bangs called the clear favorite going into league play.
No. 10 Woodbridge (11-5, 2-0) held off a late comeback by the Sea Kings, who turned the ball over on their final possession and were unable to get a shot off in the game at CdM.
“To me, this is the most talented team in the league,” Woodbridge coach Eric Bangs said of CdM. “They (his team) did a good job to get the win. They were actually outrunning us, so if they’re a lot taller and they’re outrunning us, then we were in trouble.
“But I think what we did is we tried to play all 10 or 11 kids in the first half and then settle on seven or so in the second half. The kids that came in in the first half all did a nice job.”
Anjali Ghadiyaram led Woodbridge with 16 points. Annika Walker added 11 points for the Warriors.
Woodbridge, without a player taller than 5-foot-11, faced a significant height disadvantage trying to guard Corona del Mar’s 6-foot-4 Natalia Bruening, who had 12 points, and 6-foot-2 Krista Anderson, who was limited to 2 points.
“If you’re standing there under the basket, we have no chance,” Bangs said. “When the ball is outside, we got a chance because we can front and do some things. If we can get them to miss and get a defensive rebound, one shot and out, that would really be good.
“Let’s just say we used our guards to help out and until they (CdM) hit a couple shots outside at the end of the game, we will live with that, and not let (Krista) Anderson and (Natalia) Bruening hurt us inside. It’s a total team effort.”
Woodbridge led, 17-16, at halftime and had a 29-26 lead going into the final quarter.
The Warriors extended their lead to 8 points twice in the final quarter before CdM began forcing turnovers.
The Sea Kings cut the lead to 38-37 when Maria King made one of two free throws with 34 seconds.
Corona del Mar (11-6, 1-1) got the ball back after the missed free throw but was unable to convert. Ghadiyaram was fouled going for the rebound and sank two free throws with 9.3 seconds to clinch the victory.
“I have to hand it to Corona del Mar,” Bangs said. “They started trapping and getting tips. We didn’t take care of the ball very well, not by design. We were just hoping to cruise in for a 12-point win. Hopefully, we build a little character on that one.”
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com
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