San Diego U-T Preps

For a brief moment, it appeared as if San Marcos had stolen a girls basketball game that looked like a loss seconds earlier.

Jordan Mottershaw’s 3-point basket with three seconds to play in regulation sent the game into overtime Monday against West Hills in the seventh annual Martin Luther King Showcase at Horizon High.

Mottershaw also scored a layup off a steal to open the overtime, but West Hills senior Emily Cole scored the final six points of her 25-point game to rally the Wolf Pack for a 64-56 victory.

Cole, who scored just two points in the first quarter, hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left for a 51-48 lead, setting the stage for Mottershaw’s momentary heroics before West Hills clinched a sixth consecutive win.

“When she hit that shot, we had to relax, calm down and keep playing,” said Cole, who will attend Cal State Northridge. “We had one starter get hurt and another foul out, so I had to rally the team. Anyone could have rallied the team. It just happened to be me.”

West Hills (14-4) tied the game 53-53 on a Cole rebound basket and took the lead for good on a layup by J’ana Diamond with 2:53 to go.

San Marcos (14-6) trailed 62-53 before scoring its final three points of the game.

Besides Cole’s scoring, the Wolf Pack got 12 points and nine rebounds from Jessica Scott and 11 rebounds from Haley Forsberg before she fouled out.

“We went OT against Mission HIlls, so this wasn’t anything new,” the 5-foot-11 Cole said. “We’ve played together since we were really little so we know what’s going on and what we have to do.”

Mottershaw topped the Knights with 13 points and seven rebounds while Cynthia Diaz added 12 points and six rebounds.

“Lots of positives,” San Marcos coach Roger DiCarlo said. “We were right there at the end and we shot horribly all day.

“Imagine what would have happened if we hit a few shots.”

San Marcos was a miserable 20 of 72 from the field while West Hills was a little better at 19 of 55.

In other MLK Showcase games at Horizon:

Sweetwater 71, Francis Parker 28: Behind 17 points from Anastacia Rodriguez, Sweetwater (6-10) was able to dominate Parker (1-10) from the outset.

San Pasqual 50, Mt. Carmel 44: Led by Lunden Cunningham’s 17 points, San Pasqual took control of the game by outscoring Mt. Carmel (11-8) by an 18-4 margin in the third quarter.

Santa Fe Christian 51, Bonita Vista 31: Megan Franke’s 20-point effort, which included two 3-pointers, was enough for the Eagles (11-8) to race away from Bonita Vista (8-10) in the second half.

Helix 61, Lincoln 49: Getting 19 points from Shirah Hancock, Helix (9-4) pulled away at the end of the game despite 28 points by Tatiana Smith of Lincoln (0-10).

Vista Murrieta 66, Granite Hills 56: In a game that was close until Vista Murrieta (16-5) pulled away in the final seconds, Serafina Malulupe led the winners with 18 points to overcome a 20-point game by Anna Viettry of Granite Hills (15-5).

Mission Bay 59, L.A. View Park 54: After arriving more than an hour late, View Park (11-10) led much of the way before Mission Bay (4-15) eased ahead behind Briajunae Shepard’s 24 points.

OLP 53, Torrey Pines 37: Led by Kiersten Johnson, Our Lady of Peace (13-8) built a 20-point halftime lead and was never threatened. Kaitlin Schreiber paced Torrey Pines (7-11) with 10 points.

Horizon 60, Cathedral Catholic 59: Dijonai Carrington's three-point play with two seconds left gave Horizon (16-5) the win over the Dons (10-7).