Kurdoghlian buzzer-beater propels La Cañada girls’ basketball to first-ever final

LA CAÑADA — Whether it was winning every CIF Southern Section Division 3-A playoff game by double-digits or simply winning every coinflip to keep a hopefully historic postseason journey at home, just about everything seemed to be going the way of the La Cañada High girls’ basketball team.

Sticking to that script, the Spartans never trailed on Saturday night in the semifinals against visiting Corona del Mar and turned a precarious one-point lead at halftime into a resounding 11-point advantage after three quarters.

But then the visiting Sea Kings came alive and a berth in the finals for the Spartans that had seemed like a certainty was in jeopardy.

With 15 seconds to play and the game somehow all tied up, senior captain Sarah Kurdoghlian brought the ball up and looked inside to drive, but was stopped and looked for an outlet.

As she fell to the floor, she passed it out to junior Kristina Kurdoghlian, who let fly on a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded that landed La Cañada into its first-ever CIF championship with a 55-52 win over Corona del Mar on Saturday night in the semifinals at La Cañada High.

“I shot it, it was in the air and the buzzer sounded,” said Kristina Kurdoghlian, who finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals before she was mobbed at center court following her improbable shot that sent the Spartans to the title game against top-seeded Antelope Valley on Friday or Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

“I just grabbed it and threw it up honestly.”

Sarah Kurdoghlian added a team-high 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals, as the Spartans’ guard play was clutch with the inside presense of Amber Graves (five points, six rebounds and six blocks) and Zoe Williams (six points, six rebounds) held in check by foul trouble and the equally formidable bigs for the Sea Kings.

Second-seeded La Cañada (26-3), the undefeated Rio Hondo League champion, was making its third semifinal appearance and will make its first final appearance at the expense of third-seeded Corona del Mar (23-7), which took second in the Pacific Coast League.

The Spartans had previously defeated Santa Paula (66-28) and Leuzinger (55-40) by sizable margins and led the Sea Kings, 48-34, with just more than six minutes to play. But, led by a game-high 23 points from Natalia Bruening, Corona del Mar came roaring back.

A three-pointer by Corona del Mar’s Samantha Uehara cut it to 50-44 with 3:36 to play before a Bruening three and Krista Anderson layup cut the score to 51-49.

La Cañada’s Zoe Williams made one of two free throws to built the lead back up to 52-49, but Bruening scored the game’s next three points to tie it, the last coming on a spectacular drive and layup in which she lost the ball in mid-air, but recovered to put in a 52-52 tie.

Then came an off-balanced Sarah Kurdoghlian assist and a fateful Kristina Kurdoghlian three.

“It’s kind of surreal,” said first-year coach Sarah Beattie, a La Cañada alumna. “It’s something that these girls have been working for all year. It’s extra special to do it back at my alma mater.”

The final, dramatic shot wasn’t without some controversy as it came just as the buzzer sounded.

“There was never a point where I didn’t think we were gonna win,” said Corona del Mar Coach Mark Decker, who did not think the shot left Kurdoghlian’s hand before the buzzer sounded. “We should still be playing right now. We should be in overtime.

“Pretty clearly, it was in her hand [when the buzzer sounded].”

The game seemed to be in hand for the Spartans, too.

Kristina Kurdoghlian hit a jumper and the subsequent free throw after she was fouled ahead of a Sarah Kurdoghlian three-pointer to push the Spartans to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Corona del Mar didn’t score until the 4:54 mark, but then cut the deficit to 8-7 before the Spartans settled for a 14-12 lead at the end of one.

La Cañada clung to a 27-26 lead at the half before finding fire in the third.

The Spartans went on a 10-0 run, culminated by an Alexi Nazarian three-pointer to forge a 43-31 lead.

But it was defense that led the way, with Beattie pointing to stopper Tess Oakley-Stilson, in particular.

“She came in and played terrific defense,” Beattie said. “We just picked up on our defense.”

But the Spartans went cold in the fourth, making just two field goals in 11 attempts, while CdM shot six-of-13.

“They started hitting some threes,” said Beattie of the Sea Kings, who had three long-distance makes in the quarter.

But, even though the final quarter deviated from the script it all ended with the Spartans making history.

“It’s an honor to be a part of it,” said Sarah Kurdoghlian of the Spartans’ first finals appearance.

And now, La Cañada faces an Antelope Valley team that defeated it, 43-40, in the latter’s host tournament on Jan. 9.

“We’re excited to have another chance to play them,” Beattie said. “They’re a great team, but it’s gonna be a different game this time.”