Nation’s Best Too Much for Greco & Co.

SANTA BARBARA — The legend of Michelle Greco continued to grow on Saturday night, but the All-American and her Crescenta Valley High teammates couldn’t match up with the No. 1 girls’ basketball team in the nation.

New York Christ the King beat the Falcons, 62-40, in a Gold Division quarterfinal of the Tournament of Champions at Santa Barbara City College.

For half a game, it appeared that Greco would single-handedly keep Crescenta Valley (4-1) in the game.

She scored all 17 of the Falcons’ points in the first quarter and had 23 points when the Royals (5-0) took a 33-28 lead into halftime.

Christ the King, 1989 and ’92 national champion, switched from a man-to-man to a zone defense in the second half, however, and Greco managed just four shots and four points.

“Greco just broke us down,” Royal Coach Vincent Cannizzaro said of Greco, who finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

Sinnamonn Garrett and Tara Gregory, the Falcons’ Nos. 2 and 3 scorers, combined to make only three of 26 shots, allowing the Royals to collapse tighter on Greco.

“It was frustrating,” the UCLA-bound Greco said. “They definitely adjusted and I had no chance to drive.”

Miami-bound forward Kathryn Fowler, one of five Royals with Division I commitments, scored 25 points. Sue Bird, New York City player of the year in 1996-97, was limited to only eight points.

Christ the King was a tough second-round draw for the Falcons, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times. But there were few easy draws in a tournament USA Today has called among the top two girls’ tournaments in the country.

The eight teams that won first-round games in the Gold Division entered Saturday’s play with a combined record of 42-1, four were ranked among the nation’s top 25, four were their respective state’s champion last season and six others won section or division championships.

Christ the King meets Berkeley, ranked No. 1 in California by Cal-Hi Sports and USA Today’s No. 5 team nationally, on Monday in a semifinal.

The other semifinal will feature nine-time defending Southern Section champion Brea Olinda (10-0) against Utah Mountain View (6-0), which won its state-record 55th consecutive game Saturday night.

Crescenta Valley plays perennial Southern Section power Peninsula (4-2) on Monday night in a fifth-place semifinal.

In other tournament games:

Harvard-Westlake 57, Arroyo Grande 53--The Wolverines outscored Arroyo Grande, 11-2, over the final two minutes to win a Green Division quarterfinal.

Brooke Porter scored 18 points and Corrie Roberts added 16. The pair combined for 15 of Harvard-Westlake’s 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Palmdale 41, Morro Bay 34--The Falcons outscored Morro Bay (5-4), 16-9, in the fourth quarter to break a 25-25 tie and win a ninth-place quarterfinal at Westmont College in Montecito.

Senior forward Jennifer Keating scored 11 points for Palmdale (4-4), which played much of the game without leading scorer Vonette Lanier, who was ill.

Santa Ynez 68, Ventura 58--The Cougars (3-3), who trailed by 16 points at halftime, rallied in the second half but still lost their third consecutive game in a Green Division consolation quarterfinal.