BREA – The Orange Lutheran girls basketball team beat Brea Olinda 49-40 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs Thursday night because junior guard Shea Joko had a fine game.

So did Orange Lutheran’s Kelly Garrity, and Madi Bogan. And Taliyah McFerson. And Heaven Johnson, and …

“Even if I was off or another player was off, someone picks it up,” Bogan said. “That’s what’s great about our team. It goes down the line.”

Joko scored a game-high 16 points and made three 3-pointers.

Bogan, a senior guard, scored 12 points, Garrity scored 10, McFerson scored eight and Johnson had seven rebounds and blocked three shots.

Orange Lutheran (20-7), ranked No. 4 in the Orange County Top 25, will play at home against No. 5 Sonora (26-3) in the second round Saturday night. Sonora beat Roosevelt 59-53 in its first-round game Thursday.

No. 8 Brea Olinda finished the season 21-7 overall.

Orange Lutheran junior Shea Joko (game-high 16 points) talks about the Lancers’ 49-40 win over Brea Olinda in a ⁦@CIFSS⁩ Division 1 basketball first round game … ⁦@ocvarsityguy⁩ pic.twitter.com/fQiaRaeYTp

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) February 10, 2023

Orange Lutheran coach Alex Helmage, who recently became in charge of the team while head coach Lindsay Charity is on maternity leave, said it was a typical Lancers win.

“We don’t have superstars,” she said. “We’re just an overall good team. Our mentality has been ‘next one up’ this entire season and be ready when your name is called.”

Brea got off to a good start and took a 10-7 advantage into the second quarter. Ladycats senior guard Zoe Ramirez scored six points in the first quarter and finished with a team-high 12 points.

Orange Lutheran took advantage of six Brea turnovers in the second quarter and got its first lead with five seconds left in the half on a Bogan inside basket that put the Lancers on top 17-15 at halftime.

Joko scored eight points in the third quarter, including two 3s, Garrity scored seven points in the quarter and Bogan scored four as the Lancers outscored the Ladycats 19-11 in the period for a 36-26 lead.

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Another Joko 3-pointer in the fourth quarter pushed Orange Lutheran to its biggest lead of the game, 14 points, at 47-33. Brea would get no closer than the final nine-point margin.

Both teams played aggressively on defense. Bogan said the Lancers had to match Brea’s zeal.

“That’s non-negotiable against a team like Brea,” Bogan said. “We needed high energy, we needed high effort, we needed rebounds. We had to be strong inside to open up the 3s from the outside.”

Brea sophomore guard Sarah Wang scored eight point and junior forward Maya Sanborn scored six points with nine rebounds.