state girls D-1 preview

CIF State Finals Division I Girls Game Preview:
Archbishop Mitty v. L.A. Palisades--(March 19, 1999)

State Championship Game--Division I
6:00 p.m., Saturday, March 20 - Arco Arena
Sacramento California

Palisades, 29-4 and the top-seed in the southern regional tournament, beat Peninsula of Palos Verdes, 53-41, in the southern regional finals to make its first appearance in the title game. Nicole Funn had a game-high 21 points for Palisades, while Leilani Estavan added 15. Pali coasted to its first LA City title, winning it's four playoff games by an average of 42.5 points. Oregon State-signees Leilani Estavan and senior forward Nicole Funn lead the attack for the Dolphins.

Archbishop Mitty is now undefeated at 30-0 and is making its fourth trip to the State Finals. The Monarchs lost the 1996 Division I championship game to Mater Dei 59-48, and also lost in 1994, but in between that they won the title by beating Newbury Park 46-42 in the 1995 Division III Championship game. In the NorCal Regional finals Mitty won a thriller over Berkeley 61-53. The game was close all the way until Mitty took over at the end as Rometra Craig, the daughter of former San Francisco 49er Roger Craig, led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Aimee Grzyb added 14 points for Mitty in that regional win. Mitty shot 39 free throws in the final and made only 22. If it means anything, Palisades also beat Berkeley in January, 71-66.

The Dolphins cruised to the City Section championship, came back to defeat San Clemente in their regional opener then beat Oceanside El Camino and Palos Verdes Peninsula to advance to Sacramento. Co-Coaches Joi Tanita and Kevin Hall have a team led by senior forward Nicole Funn and point guard Leilani Estavan, both of whom will attend Oregon State. Funn is an effective scorer inside and from the perimeter. Estavan is especially tough from three-point range. Junior guard April Freeney is outstanding in the open court and teams with Estavan to form a quick backcourt

As Gary Klein wrote in the Times today, "The biggest question Palisades faced when the state playoffs began was how the Dolphins would fare in a close game after so many blowouts during its City schedule. Palisades showed its mettle against San Clemente and especially against Peninsula. Now the Dolphins face an unbeaten team from a school that won the Division III state title in 1995 and made it to the finals in '94 and '96."

Palisades Lady Dolphins: Head Coach Kevin Hall	Archbishop Mitt Monarchs Head Coach: Sue Phillips Chargin
10 Leilani Estaven Sr. G 12 Chrystie Cooper Sr. G 13 Alisa Malaki Jr. F 21 April Freeney Jr. G 23 Itricia Ewell Jr. G 24 Candy Mojica Jr. F 31 Nicole Funn Sr. G/F 32 Emily Fishcer Fr. G 34 Melissa Henderson Jr. F/C 44 Willnett Crockett Fr. C 45 Victoria Crockett Jr. F	13 Aimee Grzyb (5'-6" Jr. G) 23 Rometra Craig (5'-10" Jr. G) 24 Kristin Iwanaga (5'-5" So. G) 31 Tinishia Johnson (5'-10" So. G) 33 Adrienne Sulaver (5'-9" So. G) 35 Alison Sandman (5'-11" Fr. F) 42 Sarah Barbeau (6'-2" Jr. C) 45 Kerri Nakamoto (5'-5" Sr. G) 52 Domenica Curran (6'-0" Sr. F) 55 Danielle Cotton (6'-1" Jr. C)