Lauren Ervin scored 23 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to capture M.V.P. honors and lead Mt. San Antonio (36-2) to its second state championship in three years with an 80-57 win over San Joaquin Delta (33-5) Sunday at Selland Arena in Fresno.
Ervin made all 6 of her first-half field goal attempts, scoring 17 of her 23 points in the half as Mt. SAC built a commanding 40-25 lead at intermission. For the game, she finished with an impressive all-around line of 9-of-11 from the floor, 5-of-6 from the line, 7 rebs, 4 asts, 2 blocks and 4 steals.
Mt. SAC jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the early going and led virtually the entire game. Delta rallied to cut the lead to 18-14 after a pair of free throws by Necolia Simmons, But Mt. SAC soon restored the double-digit lead, going ahead 24-14 after a basket from the post by Ervin with just over 7 minutes left in the half. Delta later closed the gap to 7 at 26-19 but then Ervin scored on a feed from Krystal Fontenot to keep Mt. SAC comfortably ahead. Another Ervin score - this one after a pass from Tonicia Tademy - put Mt. SAC ahead by 11 at 34-23, and they led by double figures the rest of the game.
Joining Ervin on the all-tournament team for Mt. SAC were Fontenot (12 pts, 8 rebs) and LaSheree Christian (16 pts, 6 asts).
Simmmons, who posted game-high totals of 24 pts and 12 rebs, and Jennifer Layton (7 pts, 4 rebs, 3 blocks) were named to the all-tourney team for Delta, as was Shavonne Smith of Riverside.
box score
Sunday, March 12, 2006 - 1 pm
at Selland Arena, Fresno
State Championship Game (Women)
Mt. San Antonio 80:
3-Sam Cardeno, PG - 1/6 fg, 4/5 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
10-Tonicia Tademy, SG - 1/2 fg, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
32-Adrienna Hooks, SF - 2/3 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 6 pts
33-Krystal Fontenot, PF - 3/10 fg, 6/6 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 12 pts
44-Lauren Ervin, C - 9/11 fg, 5/6 ft, 7 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl, 3 pf, 23 pts
23-LaSheree Christian, G - 6/15 fg, 4/5 ft, 1 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 16 pts
14-Yatshica Johnson, G - 2/3 fg, 3 reb, 4 pts
42-Candace Shivers, F - 3/4 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 8 pts
50-Myra Lealaitafea, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
34-Susan Ott, F - 1/3 fg, 1 pf, 2 pts
21-Francesca Tolentino, G - 1 reb, 0 pts
24-Leslie Elrod, F - 0 pts
25-Miho Saito, G - 0/2 ft, 0 pts
35-Luisa Howell, F - 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 28/57 fg (.491), 22/28 ft (.786), 35 reb, 20 ast, 3 blk, 7 stl, 19 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (2): Cardeno, Hooks
Turnovers (10): Christian 3, Cardeno, Tademy, Fontenot, Johnson, Lealaitafea, Ott, Tolentino
San Joaquin Delta 57:
5-Sammy Jew, SG - 1/2 fg, 1 ast, 2 pts
25-Rose Docena, PG - 0/3 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
30-Jazz Herrera, SF - 2/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
32-Jennifer Layton, PF - 3/9 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 1 pf, 7 pts
50-Necolia Simmons, C - 9/18 fg, 6/10 ft, 12 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 24 pts
34-Rachel Ottovich, C - 1/2 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
3-Ashley Kitchen, G - 2/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl, 5 pf, 5 pts
23-Samantha Oelsner, G - 4/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 12 pts
22-Denelle Baker, F - 0/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 pf, 1 pt
10-Jaimie Kinlaw, G - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
20-Ramanjot Randhawa, F - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 22/57 fg (.386), 12/20 ft (.600), 36 reb, 10 ast, 3 blk, 7 stl, 20 pf, 57 pts
3-pt fg (1): Oelsner
Fouled Out: Kitchen 7:36 left
Turnovers (17): Simmons 4, Kitchen 4, Docena 3, Layton 2, Jew, Herrera, Ottovich, Oelsner
Halftime Score: Mt. SAC 40, Delta 25
Updated Records: Mt. SAC 36-2, Delta 33-5
