Lady Braves done in by Durham

The Hamilton girls basketball team's hopes of avenging last year's Northern Section Division V championship defeat to Durham were ill-fated from tip-off Saturday, as the Lady Braves stumbled to a 44-32 defeat.

After 25 straight victories, top-ranked Hamilton crumbled at the worst possible time, opening the championship with 10 first-quarter turnovers and foul trouble for a star player.

Sophomore Aubrey Bekendam was tagged with two fouls in the first three minutes, which led to a double-digit deficit for the Lady Braves before halftime.

Hamilton continued to make hasty decisions with the ball and crude passes, and Durham's Sarah Kuhn racked up half a dozen steals as a catalyst to the 25 team turnovers committed by the Lady Braves (27-3, 10-0 MVL).

Jenna Price led Hamilton's offense with 10 points, Katie Gordon scored nine and Devoney Platt picked up 10 rebounds.

"We missed eight or nine free throws, after shooting 62-percent from the line all year," said Hamilton coach Mark Priano, adding, "we also couldn't rebound."

Bekendam was in and out of the game and never found a rhythm. She garnered her fourth foul on offense with Sandra Swanstrom defending in the fourth quarter.

Hamilton's reserves took over from there against Durham's bench players for the remaining two minutes as Mark Priano and Durham coach Aerin Farrell emptied their benches.

"We've had pressure before," Priano said concerning the lack of offense, "but we needed to get the ball down as far as we could and then kick it back out. You can't stop 30 feet from the basket."

Ellen Carstensen racked up 21 points to pace Durham, Nikki Pyle scored nine and Kuhn had six.

Hamilton has reached the final round four years in a row, and five times total, but never won a championship. Liberty won in '07 and '08, and Durham the last two.

Durham (27-3, 10-0 SVL), seeded second to Hamilton in the NSCIF, enjoyed back-to-back Division V titles, and with the No. 5 NorCal seed hosted No. 12 Sacramento Waldorf on Tuesday night to kick off the CIF Northern California playoffs.

Hamilton thumped Sacramento Waldorf in Fair Oaks on Feb. 4 during the regular season, 65-39, which perhaps boosted the Lady Braves above Durham in NSCIF playoff seeding, and earned them a home game in the state playoffs.

The Lady Braves, picking up the No. 7 seed in NorCal, hosted No. 10 University High School, of San Francisco, on Tuesday night.

Contact Paul Gadbois at 824-1036.

Durham 44, Hamilton 32

Durham 14 11 7 12 -44

Hamilton 8 7 8 9 -32

Durham (44): Carstensen, 21; Pyle, 9; Kuhn, 6; Dennis, 3; Benson, 3; McHargue, 2

Hamilton (32): Price, 10; Gordon, 9; Bekendam, 7; Platt, 4; Jo. McCorkle, 2