Tustin’s Balancing Act Is Too Much for Canyon

Tustin won its first playoff game Saturday under second-year Coach Steve Dunmeyer. Afterward, he talked about balance and his 6-foot-2 forward talked about roles. But both were talking about the next round of the Southern Section Division II-AA girls’ basketball playoffs.

The Tillers came away with a 57-44 first-round victory over visiting Canyon, shooting 48.1% from the field, with five players scoring between nine and 14 points.

Tustin (22-4), which has won 14 of its last 15 games, will play third-seeded Troy on Wednesday at a site to be determined today by a coin flip. Troy defeated Whittier California, 78-23.

Canyon finished 23-4.

“Each person does their role beyond expectation,” said junior forward Jessie Cooper, who scored 14 and had 11 rebounds. “We can be as good as any team--except Brea--as long as we stay focused.”

At times, Tustin drifted from that focus, perhaps expectedly given it has only one senior, Ecuador foreign exchange student Susana Jara (11 points, six steals).

Tustin stretched its lead to 55-38 with 3:17 remaining, but scored only two more points.

“The second half of the season, our scoring averages have been pretty even,” Dunmeyer said. “We get these runs, spurts from different people stepping up at different times.”

Brook Brown (10 points) stepped up in the second quarter with six points as Tustin made eight of 10 shots to turn a 12-11 deficit to 28-22 halftime lead.

Tustin led by six, 40-34, but put the game away as Jara had four steals and five points in a 15-4 run opening the fourth quarter.