SAN DIEGO ---- "Pressure," Scott Iverson said, "is our best friend."

Friday afternoon, Iverson's Christian L.I.F.E. Academy girls basketball team pressured Vincent Memorial into 42 turnovers, pulling away from the Scots midway through the second quarter to repeat as CIF San Diego Section Division V champion with an 82-54 victory at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Both championship victories came against Vincent Memorial. The Eagles defeated the Scots by 15 points earlier in the season.

"They pressured us more this time, threw different things at us," said Christian L.I.F.E. point guard Melanie Lombardi, who scored a game-high 26 points.

"But we work very well as a team. We play very good team defense. We work very hard on that.

"And I think defense was the key."

The victory was Christian L.I.F.E.'s 23rd straight. The Eagles lost three of their first four games this season, with the losses coming against higher-division schools Olympian, Mount Miguel and Montgomery. Friday's win also guaranteed Christian L.I.F.E. a first-round home game in the state playoffs, the pairings for which will be announced Sunday.

After falling behind early, Vincent Memorial closed the gap to 20-18 with 4 minutes, 19 seconds to play in the second quarter.

After that, it was all Christian L.I.F.E. The Eagles went on a 17-3 run to push their lead to 16 just before halftime, then went on a 12-4 run to open the third quarter.

Lombardi led five Christian L.I.F.E. players in double figures as the Eagles scored a season-high 82 points.

Bonnie Youngdale and Gabriella Cabrera added 11 each, and Kelly Iverson and Megan Wojnicki each scored 10.

Iverson and Youngdale both had five rebounds.

"This is super exciting," Youngdale said. "Winning back-to-back titles is awesome, amazing.

"I think we executed really well. We played one of our best games as a team.

"We really pushed the ball up the floor.

"Honestly, you never get tired of winning."

Katia Cordero, a 6-foot senior, led Vincent Memorial with 21 points, 16 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Claudia Posada, a member of Mexico's women's national team, added 14 points and nine rebounds. She was playing her first game after serving a four-game suspension for playing for the Mexican team during the high school season.

"Vincent Memorial has a lot of strength and height," Scott Iverson said. "We were fortunate it didn't turn into an inside-type game.

"We played hard. And we played well. We got contributions from freshmen to seniors. When you come to a venue like this, you don't know what the pressure of a big game will do to individuals.

"We played together. And we were able to get some easy looks off turnovers.

"What I'm most proud of is our character. I really think we lived up to the name of the school."

Had the Eagles made more free throws, they might have been pushing 100 points.

Christian L.I.F.E. was 18-of-32 from the line, missing the first shot of a pair of one-and-one opportunities.

"We need to work on free throws, because free throws win games," Lombardi said.

"We'll work on that in practice. Right now, I'm thinking how sweet it is to win two championships in a row.

"And I wouldn't trade in either one."

Contact staff writer John Maffei at 760-740-3547.