When teams line up Saturday at Palomar College for the San Diego Section’s second annual girls flag football championships, three Metro Conference teams will be represented — two in the Division IV final and another in the Division III championship game.
Top-seeded San Ysidro (13-9) and second-seeded Olympian (10-9) will pair up in an all-South County championship tilt for the right to bring home the Division IV trophy after emerging victorious in Tuesday’s semifinals. The game for all the marbles is set for an 11 a.m. kick-off.
San Ysidro out-scored fourth-seeded Castle Park (14-8) by a score of 28-13 in the semifinals after defeating ninth-seeded Canyon Crest Academy, 12-6, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 14.
Olympian defeated sixth-seeded Escondido (11-9) by a score of 25-14 in Tuesday’s semifinals as senior Jaiden Liera passed for 297 yards and four touchdowns — three to junior Aubrey Tibayan (12 catches, 150 yards).
The Lady Eagles defeated seventh-seeded Rancho Bernardo (6-10) by a 25-12 score in the quarterfinals behind 275 passing yards and four touchdowns by Liera — three to Tibayan (eight catches, 127 yards).
Second-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (11-11) will meet eighth-seeded Scripps Ranch (14-11) for the Division III title at 12:30 p.m. after dealing sixth-seeded Steele Canyon (12-12) a 33-12 defeat on Tuesday as sophomore Maya Mathies put on a showcase performance with multiple touchdowns (two TD as a receiver, three TD as a passer), extra-points (three) and interceptions (two).
The Lady Crusaders showed resiliency by coming back twice from six-point deficits to edge seventh-seeded Hilltop (14-5) by an 18-12 score in overtime in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Senior Cat Doherty had two touchdowns while junior Brooklyn Ringgold had one for the victors. Seniors Olivia Grant and Carolina Villalpando each scored for the Lady Lancers.
Five Metro teams qualified for the semifinals.
Third-seeded Otay Ranch, owners of a 12-0 regular season record, had its season end following a 28-8 loss to second-seeded Torrey Pines in the Division I semifinals.
The Division II final is at 2 p.m., followed by the Division I clash at 3:30 p.m.
Girls Volleyball Scoreboard
State regionals: The Eastlake High School girls volleyball team, seeded No.5 in the Southern California regional Division II tournament, ended its season with a 3-1 loss at No. 2 Bakersfield Centennial in Tuesday’s regional final.
The Lady Titans (29-12) finished 3-1 in the regional playoffs with wins over No. 12 Campbell Hall (first round), No. 4 San Dieguito Academy (quarterfinals) and No. 1 Bakersfield Christian (semifinals) to reach Tuesday’s regional final.
Mater Dei Catholic 33, Steele Canyon 12
Photos by Jon Bigornia
