PHOTOS: Uni girls win a thriller over Woodbridge 51-50 and stay atop PCL standings

University celebrates after a 51-50 victory over Woodbridge Thursday night. (Photos Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

After a somewhat slow start in the first half, University and Woodbridge girls basketball teams put on quite an entertaining and wild finish in an early season Pacific Coast League showdown Thursday night.

University prevailed 51-50 to remain atop the league standings with a 4-0 mark. The two teams were tied for the top spot going into the game.

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The lead see-sawed back and forth in the final minutes, but the Trojans Samantha Skurnick scored on a driving layup with 11 seconds left for the eventual game winner. Woodbridge (12-8, 3-1) called a timeout and had a chance to win the game, but an outside jumper fell off the rim and the Trojans rebounded, then celebrated with their home fans on Pack the Gym night.

University, which has won two consecutive PCL titles, has now won 24 league games in a row going back three years. The Trojans are 9-13 overall this season.

“It was a back and forth game but at the end of the day, I told the girls they were keeping their composure through the runs,” said Uni Coach Fidel Vargas. “Woodbridge rallied back, we rallied back. It shows maturity and growth. We were in those situations and we were able to pull it off.”

University was led by senior guard Claire Kawata, who scored 24 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter. Kawata sank 10 of 12 free throws and made two 3-pointers.

“She’s a very special player,” Vargas said. “The way she maneuvers up and down the court and the way she plays aggressive and able to attack the basket and get us the points at crucial times, it’s her I see the most in the crucial moments. Her maturity is showing.”

Aryn Press added 12 points for University.

Woodbridge got a strong performance from senior center Erika Maggard, who scored 22 points. Kathleen Wassserman added 13 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Woodbridge led 21-16 at halftime and 36-30 going into the final quarter. But University came roaring back, forcing turnovers and converting them into points. The Trojans tied it 36-36 when Skurnick hit two free throws with 5:09 remaining.

University led 49-46 late, but Woodbridge rallied and took a 50-49 lead on a basket by Maggard with 55 seconds remaining. But in the furious final seconds, it was Skurnick who made the layup to put the Trojans ahead. She finished with six points.

“It was a designed play for Kawata, it got scrambled and the ball was swung over to Samantha and she attacked the baseline and it’s a drill that we work on during practice,” Vargas said. “She used the traditional backboard. Option two, it worked out great.”

“Our defense was really strong and we played hard no matter what,” Kawata added. “The first half was tough and turnovers were a big problem. In the fourth quarter, I just played hard.”

Woodbridge Coach Keith Clarkson expected an exciting game.

“We knew it was going to be a battle coming in,” he said. “They aren’t going to lie down on us. I’ll give them credit, they hit some big shots in the second half. We got in early foul trouble which kind of hurt us a little bit. When Kathleen fouled out early and that kind of hurt us on defense and she was shooting the ball well on offense.

“They did a nice job on Erika. She got her points, but they were really on her. We really wanted to steal one here. We figured if we got one here, it would give us an easy road the rest of the way. We still have a long wayto go. There are a lot of good teams, Portola, and everyone is going to battle us.

“We will look at where we made mistakes. We got a little bit out of our game plan. The kids made a couple early fouls and kind of messed us up but Claire had a great game and hit some big shots.”

The teams have one more game on Thursday, Feb. 6 at Woodbridge and if both teams keep winning, the game would determine who wins the league title.

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