JV girls share league basketball title

Fallbrook High School’s junior varsity girls basketball team earned a share of the Avocado East League championship.

The Warriors’ 9-1 league record was identical to that of Vista, with whom Fallbrook split a pair of league matches. Fallbrook closed out the 2011-12 season February 16 with a 38-30 victory over the Panthers, not only earning a share of the league title but also attaining a 20-win season while finalizing the Warriors’ overall season record at 20-4.

“The girls had a great year, worked really hard, went out and played some tough competition,” said Fallbrook coach Tony Morrow.

The Warriors lost their match at Vista in the first round of league competition before beating the Panthers in the season finale.

“Came down to us and them the last game out here,” Morrow said.

Fallbrook never trailed in its home win against Vista.

“Just a wonderful season,” Morrow said. “Girls did really well. We were a really good defensive team.”

The Warriors scored 1,066 points during the year while allowing 722. On three occasions Fallbrook allowed fewer than ten points the entire game, and opponents failed to score at least 20 points in four other games.

The Warriors won the San Dieguito Mustang Invitational Tournament with wins over San Dieguito Academy, Coronado, and Clairemont before facing Coronado again in the tournament finals and prevailing by a 44-9 score.

The Warriors followed that tournament with the Longhorn Winter Shootout tournament hosted by Rancho Buena Vista High School. After the tournament-opening win over Patrick Henry gave Fallbrook a 7-0 season record, the Warriors lost to Poway and Del Norte. The competition against Del Norte saw the Nighthawks prevail by a 36-33 margin.

“We came back to get a couple of really big wins against Ramona and San Marcos in that tournament,” Morrow said.

Ramona held a 34-31 lead after the third quarter, but Fallbrook outscored by the Bulldogs by a 17-10 margin in the final period to take a 48-44 victory. The score against San Marcos was 58-38. Fallbrook earned seventh place in that tournament. “We finished that one out strong,” Morrow said.

The Warriors’ only other non-league loss was against Rancho Buena Vista in Fallbrook’s home opener January 3. “We’ll see them in league twice next year, so that ought to be interesting,” Morrow said.

Some of Morrow’s players will be back on the junior varsity team for the 2012-13 season, although others will likely be part of the Warrior varsity. Morrow started the season with 15 players, although one of the captains transferred when her family moved to Virginia. The 14 players who finished the season consisted of seven freshmen and seven sophomores.

Three of Morrow’s starters were freshmen: center Brooke Koran, point guard Morgan Pilbin, and small forward Emily Schneider. The two sophomores who started were power forward Jessica Ramirez and shooting guard Rosanne Lopez. Freshman Andrinna Perez, who at 5’11” was the Warriors’ tallest player, was the post player off the bench. “We expect the six of them to get a good hard look from the varsity coaches in the fall,” Morrow said.

“Couldn’t have asked for a better team. Couldn’t have asked for much more than what we got,” Morrow said. “They really took to heart that every time they went out there we’re representing the community and representing the school, and they did that

very well.”

The team’s motto for the season was “It’s All About the Logo”, which referred to the fact that the players were representing the team, the school, and the community of Fallbrook. “They did a really good job,” Morrow said.

“It’s a great mixture, great group of girls,” Morrow said of his team. “I’m really proud of what they accomplished and the way they represented their school.”

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