Prospect Watch - Feb. 24

An injury to one of the country's top seniors short-circuits a marquee matchup in Southern California.

STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

Like a beacon in a fog, these games start to emerge during the true grey area of winter, when the NFL has faded and the luster of long NBA and NHL seasons has dulled. It is during this period when amateur athletics fill the sporting void. This is particularly true of the high-school level, for which the end of February represents the beginning of the championship trail throughout the country.

In Southern California, Saturday was scheduled for one of those wonder-filled matchups between Brea Olinda and Ventura in a CIF-Southern Section Division I-AA quarterfinal. Not only was it to be a critical game between two area powers, was to feature two of the country's top seniors, Jeanette Pohlen of Brea and Kali Bennett of Ventura.

Jeanette Pohlen

Oddly enough, the pressure was going to be high on Brea Olinda, for its perfect, 28-0 record and national ranking (No. 7 by Full Court Press) are at stake. Brea is powered by the do-everything, Stanford-bound Pohlen, one of the country's most unsung stars, but it had lost its other senior starter, Stephanie Servin, during a second-round game on Wednesday. Adding to its palpable angst, Brea already had lost to Ventura on one count - the coin flip which determined the home venue.

But Brea Olinda caught a break - literally. The 6-foot-5, Washington-bound Bennett, who is averaging a team-leading 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks, suffered a fracture in her right wrist during the first quarter of a Wednesday playoff game. So the No. 36 prospect in the HoopGurlz.com Hot 100, who'd never before missed a game for Ventura, likely ends her career with 1,830 points, 1,011 rebounds, 347 blocks and 101 victories.

Bennett has been fitted with a hard cast and is scheduled to undergo follow-up x-rays in two weeks.

And the beat likely will go on for Pohlen, who had a splendid second-round game, collecting 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists during Brea Olinda's 83-48 victory over Gahr.

The 5-11 guard, recently named to the WBCA All-Star Game, is the all-time career points leader at Brea with 2,050, topping the previous mark of 1,991 by Nicole Erickson, who went on to play at Duke and Purdue. Pohlen also has become Brea's all-time leading rebounder with 1,051, passing the previous record of 1,038 by Jody Anton, who played for USC. Pohlen also has 507 career assists.

If Brea Olinda takes care of business on Saturday, it likely would meet traditional powerhouse Troy, which its already beaten this season, on the road that could lead to a matchup against the nation's No. 2 team, Long Beach Poly, at the beginning of March.

Rim Shots

If, in coaching parlance, big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, this certainly is the time of year for such. ... Consider that Rachel Rentschler, a Texas-bound, 6-2 wing, poured in 49 points to lead Fort Worth Christian to a Texas 5A TAPPS bi-district victory. The No. 26 overall prospect in 2007, per HoopGurlz.com, hit 21 of 31 shots and was perfect on three attempt from beyond the arc. ... April Sykes, the No. 2 player in the 2008 class, according to HoopGurlz, also came close to the half-century

Ta'Shia Phillips

mark, scoring 48 points to lead East Oktibbeha to a 69-53 victory over Benoit Brooks in a Mississippi 1A South quarterfinal on Thursday. ... Ta'Shia Phillips, the top uncommitted player in the 2007 class, dominated a Indiana sectional championship game with 32 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks to lead Brebeuf Jesuit to a 59-30 romp. The 6-6 Phillips made 14 of 15 shots for Brefeuf, which moves to the regionals on Saturday. Phillips is No. 28 in the HoopGurlz.com Hot 100. ... Kayla Pedersen, the 6-4, Stanford-bound wing, became the all-time leader scorer in Arizona Class 3A, passing the 2,486 by local legend Nicole Powell, who also went to play at Stanford and now is in the WNBA at Sacramento. Pedersen, the No. 4 overall prospect in '07 by HoopGurlz, had 29 points during Red Mountain's 51-31 victory over Dobson in regional play. Pedersen now has 2,507 career points and has the 2,550 of Christina Wirth in her sights. The state's all-time scorer is Julie Brase, who had 2,913 points for Catalina Foothills from 1995-98. ... Sophomore Olivia Towers-Solis, a 5-11 guard, continues to leave evidence of a burgeoning monster career in Georgia, recently scoring 20 points for Mill Creek in the Region 7 AAAAA final. That is the same Mill Creek team that forced national No. 1 Collins Hill to rally from a 27-point deficit earlier this season.

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