SANTA ANA – In any sport, if you don't score, you can't win. If you're unable to hold onto the ball, you can't score.

It took 14 minutes, 20 seconds – forever in basketball – for Calvin Christian's girls to collect their first field goal. By then San Luis Obispo Mission Prep had 22 points.

The Crusaders had buried themselves in a bottomless pit and were unable to climb out, falling to the heavily favored Royals 52-25 yesterday in the Southern California Regional Division V championships at Mater Dei High.

Calvin, appearing in its first regional final as compared to Mission Prep's even dozen, were scoreless until the 2:08 mark of the first quarter, when Alexis Manning hit a free throw.

And that's all they'd get in the first eight minutes.

It was a full quarter later when Michelle Baerg's 12-footer finally ended the field goal drought 1:40 before the half.

“We're not a big scoring team, but that's the first time all year we've scored one point in a quarter,” said Calvin coach Brad Jansen. “We didn't get bad shots, we just missed.”

Although the Crusaders (22-9) appeared relaxed before the game, it was obvious even then that the Mission Prep players were not in the least intimidated participating in a regional final.

“It's huge that they've been here before,” said Jansen. “They knew what to do and did it. This is such a big step for our program. I'm very proud of what the girls accomplished. I'm not sure they appreciate that they're one of the four best teams in the state.”

Mission Prep, which will play Friday in the state championships in Sacramento, spread the scoring around, frustrating the Calvin defenders, who couldn't focus on one player.

Turning the ball over 29 times – 18 before intermission, when they trailed 24-8 – and getting out-boarded 32-16 didn't help either.

The Royals (27-4) got a 10-point, 13-rebound effort from Leigh Yetter, and only Nicole Tasooji of Calvin could come close, scoring 11 of the Crusaders' 25.

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