McLeod Gives Marina a Boost Against Aztecs

Chanda McLeod confessed after Marina’s victory Thursday over seventh-ranked Esperanza that she’s only 5 feet 10 inches tall.

“They lied in the program,” said McLeod, who is one of the shortest centers on a county top 10 team.

But McLeod played every bit as tall as Esperanza’s Leah Combs (6-2) in eighth-ranked Marina’s 62-51 victory at Marina.

McLeod, a sophomore in her first full varsity season, scored 17 points, had 10 rebounds, a steal and two blocked shots, nearly negating Combs (20 points, 13 rebounds, three steals), probably the league’s best center.

A challenge?

“Every game to me is a challenge,” McLeod said, “because every post is bigger than I am.”

Marina (14-3, 3-1 in league) created a tie for first place; Esperanza is 14-5, 3-1. Had Esperanza won, it would have had a two-game lead over Marina and Edison with both second-round games at Esperanza.

“It was our mental mistakes and turnovers [15] that hurt us,” Esperanza Coach Marc Hill said. “A lot of these girls haven’t been in a championship game atmosphere.”

McLeod scored in the final seconds of the second and third quarters on two of Natalie Nakase’s eight assists.

Hill thought the game would come down to each team’s strength: his posts against Marina’s guards. But McLeod’s performance turned the game into a battle of guards, and Marina will rarely lose those. Nakase had 20 points and seven steals.

“They got a lot out of McLeod--I didn’t expect her to score that much,” Hill said. “We used our posts to help [on the perimeter] and she hit a couple at the end of the quarters that broke our backs.”

McLeod, eight of 14 from the field, made six consecutive field goals at one point. “That’s probably a record for me,” she said. “I was in a zone.”

Tied at 39, Marina’s Adria Sortino made a three-point basket, Nakase hit a 19-footer, and then McLeod made an eight-foot jumper from the wing with three seconds left to make it 46-39 going into the fourth quarter.

Six fourth-quarter turnovers prevented Esperanza from getting too close, though the Aztecs cut the deficit to nine with 1:05 left.

In other league games:

Edison 54, Los Alamitos 49--Shauna Steward scored 26 points, including a three-pointer with 10 seconds left, to move visiting Edison (13-5, 2-2) ahead by six. Steward finished with four three-pointers.

Huntington Beach 53, Fountain Valley 50--Huntington Beach (13-5, 2-2) trailed by nine with 3:21 left, but went on a 13-1 scoring run the rest of the way. Erica Waetjen (14 points) had a three-point play with 50 seconds left to give the Oilers a two-point lead. Kelly Boeke scored 14 for the Barons (7-12, 1-3).