Marina Stays Close, Falls to Harbor City Narbonne

HUNTINGTON BEACH â€”  Natalie Nakase did everything she could. She dribbled behind her back and threw in the left-handed layup in traffic. She hit the three-point basket. She impressed all 2,000 in the Marina gym.

But she couldn’t lift fifth-ranked Marina to a victory. The height and inside power of Harbor City Narbonne was too much, and the Gauchos scored a 72-60 victory over the Vikings in Monday’s championship game of the Marina tournament.

Nakase finished with 29 points and six steals. She was the primary reason Marina (10-2) trailed only, 34-32, at halftime against a team that was taller and stronger at every position. Nakase had 18 points by then.

But in the second half, Narbonne defenders forced Nakase to her left, tried to run her ragged, and ran Marina out of the game.

The Gauchos (10-3) pounded the ball inside to 6-foot-1 freshman Ebony Hoffman (the tournament’s most valuable player), who scored 12 of her 20 points in the decisive third quarter. Marina made only one of 13 shots from the field and Narbonne outscored Marina, 18-4, in the quarter.

“We didn’t score, so we couldn’t press and get the turnovers,� said Marina Coach Pete Bonny, whose team was outrebounded, 45-29. Narbonne had five players in double figures.

In other tournament games:

Mater Dei 38, Ocean View 37--Fourth-ranked Mater Dei managed only four shots in the fourth quarter and nearly blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead. Jennifer Tuiolosega’s fourth three-pointer began the comeback with 5:05 left, closing the score to 37-28, and Anna Lembke scored twice in the final 1 1/2 minutes. Sixth-ranked Ocean View had the ball with 15 seconds left, but Tuiolosega drove the lane and tried to pass to Sharon Shelton; the ball was tipped away with less than a second left.

“The first thing that comes to my mind in that situation is to make the pass, and I saw her out of the corner of my eye,� said Tuiolosega, who scored a game-high 18 points. “It was instincts. I should have taken the shot.�

Anna Lembke scored seven of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. Lori Hurlbut (10 points) led Mater Dei.

Laguna Hills 44, Newport Harbor 38--Tamara Inoue (21 points) scored eight in a 10-0 run to open the second half to lead No. 2 Laguna Hills (10-3). Breanna Badorek had 16 for Newport Harbor, which closed to within three with 29 seconds left.

El Dorado 39, Long Beach Wilson 35--Jamie Nebeker’s consecutive baskets at the end of the third quarter put El Dorado ahead for good in the consolation title game. Stephanie Patten had 13 for the Golden Hawks.