GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

Division I

Mt. Carmel 49, Rancho Bernardo 36--Kris Grazzini sat out last year’s playoffs with an injured knee, but she ensured second-seeded Mt. Carmel would get a chance to play for its third straight section title.

Grazzini scored 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked 10 shots to lift the short-handed Sundevils (20-4). The victory came despite the loss last week of starting guard Jennifer Alley and and backup center Michelle Gudmundsson to injuries.

“We’re not going to quit running the race just because the hurdles are higher,” Mt. Carmel Coach Tracey Johnson said of her team.

Tammy Brokaw, bothered by tendinitis in her knee, added eight points and eight rebounds.

Mt. Carmel trailed at halftime, 19-16, after turning over the ball 10 times in the second quarter and getting outscored, 17-8.

“We lost our composure (against the press) and we weren’t executing the very basic fundamentals of basketball,” Johnson said. “We were just saying, ‘Let us survive until halftime.’ ”

They did, and outscored No. 3 Rancho Bernardo 17-7 in the third quarter, getting six apiece from Brokaw and Grazzini, who is on her way to UC Santa Barbara next season.

Rancho Bernardo (23-4), got 10 points each from Jessica Porter and Amy Franzen. The Broncos, a second-year school, were playing in their first Division I tournament. It reached the semifinals of Division III last year.

The game marked the first time Peggy Brose coached against her former team. She was at Mt. Carmel for 12 years and won two section titles, in 1988 and 1990, before beginning the program at Rancho Bernardo.