EMPIRE LEAGUE GIRLS’ BASKETBALL : El Dorado Bench Helps Hold Off Los Alamitos

Dan Henshall, the El Dorado girls’ basketball coach, hoped before his team’s Empire League opener against Los Alamitos that he would get an all-around effort from his team.

However, Henshall didn’t count on the Golden Hawks getting into early foul trouble. As it was, El Dorado’s bench helped stave off a fourth-quarter rally by Los Alamitos and save a 50-32 victory at El Dorado High School Thursday night.

El Dorado (11-3) forward Jody Caruso picked up three fouls in the opening minutes of the game and had her fourth with 3 minutes 46 seconds left in the third quarter. Three other Golden Hawks also ran into foul trouble in the second half.

Los Alamitos (8-6), ranked seventh in the county, went into overdrive in the second half after a slow start. Capitalizing on El Dorado’s misfortunes, the Griffins reduced a 30-17 halftime deficit by outscoring the Golden Hawks, 11-7, in the third quarter.

Spurred by the play of guard Cindy Yamasaki, who led Los Alamitos with 16 points, the Griffins pulled within seven points with 6:10 remaining in the game. Yamasaki, a returning all-league guard, sank two free throws, bringing the score to 37-30.

El Dorado then stopped Los Alamitos’ drive cold when point guard Briana Yoshina, who led her team with 16 points, made one of her three three-point shots, giving El Dorado a 40-30 lead with less than five minutes to play. Yamasaki then fouled out of the game with 4:25 remaining.

“That was a big shot,” Henshall said. “Los Alamitos made a couple of threes and then we answered back for their threes. A lot of the credit for this win goes to the bench.” Henshall singled out Angie Conley, Miryka Tonjes and Nicole DeBruijn.

In another league game:

Cypress 54, Katella 24--Jessica Eggleston scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Centurions (9-4, 1-0) at Katella. Cypress center Lupe Nava scored 18 points and had nine rebounds, eight blocked shots and 10 steals. Cypress led, 20-7, at halftime.