Familiar Finish for Palmdale

PALMDALE — If Coach Bruce Breeden of Crescenta Valley High was concerned how guard Jeanine Deno would react in her first playoff game, his fears were quickly erased by the freshman.

Deno had a season-high 38 points as Crescenta Valley defeated Palmdale, 60-54, in a Southern Section Division I-AA first-round playoff game at Palmdale.

Crescenta Valley (16-11) defeated Palmdale, 61-41, in the first round last year. However, neither Breeden nor Deno were part of that team.

Deno, who scored 18 points in the first half, put an exclamation point on the victory with a three-point play with 11 seconds to play.

“When I saw her make the basket, I just yelled,” Breeden said. “I looked at the clock and finally felt like we had it.”

Deno was engaged in a first-half battle with sophomore center Teiosha George of Palmdale, who countered Deno with 14 points as Palmdale took a 29-26 halftime lead.

While she controlled the game offensively, Deno was called for three fouls in the first half that put her on the bench for most of the third quarter. In her absence, Crescenta Valley went to a zone defense and held the 6-2 George to four points in the second half.

Crescenta Valley (17-10) outscored Palmdale, 14-13, in the third quarter to trim its deficit to 42-40.

Deno started the fourth quarter and Crescenta Valley took its first lead since the opening minutes when she made a five-foot jump shot with 2:53 to play.

Deno’s shot gave Crescenta Valley a 53-51 lead.

She scored 16 of Crescenta Valley’s 20 points in the fourth quarter.

“We knew that this was our game to win,” said Deno, who scored 29 points in a game earlier this season. “I just went in the fourth quarter and showed them that I could still make a shot [after sitting so long.]”

Judy Collier of Palmdale made three three-pointers and scored 18 points. Collier and sophomore Shanna Demus missed three-point shots in the final minute that could have tied the score.

Collier’s last three-pointer with 2:25 left gave Palmdale a 54-53 lead.