Eagle girls advance with big first round CIF playoff win

Special to The Acorn


MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn A GOOD  START-The Oak Park girls' basketball team was all smiles after their easy 88-40 victory over Pomona on Saturday during the first round of California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn A GOOD START-The Oak Park girls’ basketball team was all smiles after their easy 88-40 victory over Pomona on Saturday during the first round of California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.

The first round hurdle was easy enough for the defending California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division IV-AA champion Oak Park girls’ basketball team as they warmed up for last night’s second round game at Rosamond High.


Playing at home against the Pomona Catholic Pacers last Saturday, the Eagles won easily, 88-40, as Shir Raanan scored 19 points followed by Michelle Bregar’s 17 and Jamie Rauchwarger’s 13. For the Pacers, Maria Gutierrez scored 21 points and Sara Jo Rodriguez put 10 points in the basket.


Oak Park (17-10), the first-seeded team from the Tri-Valley League, was to play Rosamond, the Desert League’s second-seeded team last night.


The winner plays Saturday night at 7:30 at a site to be determined against Calvary of Santa Ana of the Olympic League or against Crossroads, a Delphic League team.


Against the Pacers, the Eagles got off to a 27-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, led at halftime 51-20 and were ahead 69-26 at the end of the third quarter.


"It was a fun run, a chance to get a lot of the players that don’t (usually ) play some playing time," said Oak Park head coach Lindsay Strothers.


The Eagles played most of the second and fourth quarters with the players who will return next year. Among those were Jamie Rauchwarger, sophomore, Summer Barry, freshman, and Amanda Ply, sophomore.


"Jamie came in at the point and did a real nice job. She’s working on her leadership skills for next year," Strothers said.


"Summer Barry came in, Amanda Ply, who came up from the JV team, did a really nice job. They didn’t even expect to play. So it was a surprise for them. It was a fun game to have as your first playoff game, which we earned from the performance, that we did last year."


Strothers said he’s counting on sophomore Raanan and seniors Bregar, Jannel Buckley and Holly Stewart to carry the Eagles down the stretch.


Of Bregar, the coach said that when she plays well, the Eagles almost always win.


"She has a tenacity that is unmatched by any player I have ever coached," he said. "She just wants to play hard and win. When we need a score, she’ll just drive to the basket and score the basket."


Strothers puts Bregar on the other team’s best player.


The coach said Bregar suggested that she’d be comfortable with defending the other team’s best player. Strothers said Bregar added, "‘When I have to play hard, I work better.’" His reply, he said, was, "‘Oh, okay.’"


Stewart, he said, "… didn’t have her greatest game, but she’s steady.


"Shir’s shots were a little off, but she did some other things. Michelle was drilling that little jumper from the corner and Jannel hit her open shots and she didn’t play that much.


"Everyone can score. Even Brittany Alexander off the bench (as did) Marisa Gilbert, and they’re looking to score. They’re not scared to shoot."


Playoff games after this weekend continue with the semifinals on Sat., Feb. 23 and the finals on the weekend of March 1 and 2.




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