Woodbridge starts fast and captures 37-25 PCL victory over Beckman

Erika Maggard was Woodbridge’s leading scorer and rebounder Frday night. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Woodbridge High’s girls basketball team kept pace with Portola and University, defeating Beckman 37-25 Friday night in a Pacific Coast League game at Woodbridge.

Woodbridge, Portola and University are tied for first place in the PCL two games into the league season.

Woodbridge (11-7, 2-0) was led by senior Erika Maggard, who scored 22 points (which is her season average), 13 in the second half. Maggard also hauled down 10 rebounds. Kathleen Wassserman added six points for Woodbridge.

“Our game plan coming in was to slow down their pace,” said Woodbridge Coach Keith Clarkson. “They’re a very quick up and down the floor team. I thought we had the advantage on the half court so we did an excellent job in the first half. We got a little bit out of the game plan later in the game.

“We don’t want to run with them.”

Woodbridge appeared to be in control with a 19-7 halftime lead but Beckman (10-7, 0-2) got back into the game, cutting the lead to 23-17 in the third quarter. However, the Warriors were able to regain control and finished strong outscoring Beckman 12-6 in the final quarter.

“We had a lull in the third quarter where our defense dropped a little bit,” Clarkson said. “For us the first nine or 10 minute of the game was excellent.

“We stuck to the game plan and obviously, when you have Erika Maggard there at the post she helps out a lot. We give her a lot of credit on offense, but I think the team really stepped up on the defensive end. Wasserman did a great job on defense and Ashley Cheng did too.”

Bethany Chang scored seven points and Alyssa Braunstein six points to lead Beckman.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com