ANAHEIM- Rosary was ahead by 19 points in the second quarter, seemingly on its way to a one-sided win.
Momentum changed uniforms in the third quarter.
Esperanza rallied in the second half to make it close, but Rosary came away with a 44-38 win over the Aztecs on Wednesday in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls basketball semifinal at Esperanza High.
Rosary (23-6) will play at Marlborough (21-8) in the semifinals Saturday at 7 p.m. Like all basketball semifinalists, the Royals qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs.
Esperanza finished 25-5.
Royals junior guard Allison Clarke scored a game-high 21 points with six rebounds. Sophomore forward Mya Barnes scored 12 points with eight rebounds. Senior forward Ava Dominguez scored 10 points including five clutch points in the fourth quarter.
Allie Clarke scored 21 points for Rosary in a 44-38 road win over Esperanza in a @CIFSS D1 quarterfinal. Rosary had to withstand a big Esperanza 2nd-half rally @ocvarsityguy … pic.twitter.com/YYknqmnCka
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) February 16, 2023
Esperanza senior guard Kaiya Mack scored 20 points. She set the school career scoring record this season. Aztecs freshman guard Madilyn Lam scored 11 points with six rebounds and freshman forward Charlotte Muller scored seven points.
Clarke in the first quarter scored 14 points including making four of her five 3-point shots as the Royals raced to a 21-6 lead.
Rosary’s domination continued into the second quarter, building the lead to 27-8. The Royals, No. 3 in the Orange County Top 25 that has Esperanza at No. 5, were ahead 28-12 at halftime.
After scoring 21 points in the first quarter the Royals scored only seven in the second quarter, seven in the third quarter and nine in the fourth. Having shot 8 for 14 in the first quarter Rosary was 2 for 10 in the second quarter, 3 for 12 in the third quarter and 3 for 10 in the fourth.
“All of a sudden,” Rosary coach Richard Yoon said, “we…
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