Oxnard Files Winning Basket in Memory Bank

Memory Rhone caught a length-of-the-court pass from Sara Wilkins and made an eight-foot bank shot with three seconds left to lift Oxnard High over Palmdale, 50-49, in the first round of the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs Saturday night at Palmdale.

In a battle between league champions, Palmdale (19-8) rallied from a six-point deficit in the final minute to take a 49-48 lead on a 17-foot jumper by Vonetta Lanier with six seconds to play.

“I told my girls that if [Palmdale] scored, get the ball up the court as quickly as possible,” Coach Ryle Lynch-Cole of Oxnard said. “But I honestly wasn’t expecting Palmdale to score.”

Tina Carrillo stole an inbounds pass and made a three-point basket to pull Palmdale to within 48-47 with 34 seconds left.

Lanier scored 21 points for Palmdale, which lost its second home game in five years after winning a fifth consecutive Golden League championship.

“We had a foul to give, but everything’s happening so fast out there, the girls just panicked a little bit,” Coach George Corisis of Palmdale said of the last basket.

Rhone scored 16 points for Oxnard (14-14) and Wilkins had 11 points and nine rebounds.