Providence girls’ basketball catches semifinals fever
BURBANK — With the final seconds having ticked down, the Providence High girls’ basketball team huddled in front of its bench to celebrate something that hadn’t occurred in six seasons.
Behind the dazzling shooting of Melissa Zozulenko, rebounding of Ariel Gordillo and passing of Francesca Maravilla, Providence posted a hard-fought 46-41 CIF Southern Section Division IV-A quarterfinal victory against visiting Arroyo on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2012.
Zozulenko finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Gordillo contributed 16 points and seven rebounds and Maravilla added five points and nine rebounds.
Providence (22-7) will meet top-seeded Rolling Hills Prep, which recorded a 62-32 win against La Quinta La Quinta, in a semifinal road contest at a time to be determined Saturday.
“It’s great to get to the final four,” said Providence coach Andrew Benzce, whose team accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2012. “We’re getting better each game in the playoffs and they are doing a great job in a lot of different areas.
“We’re playing very good defense and we’re capitalizing on it a lot. It’s allowing me a lot of flexibility and we’re calling plays and executing.”
The Pioneers, who won the Liberty League championship for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, got 13 second-half points from Zozulenko. She made a three-pointer from the right side off a pass from Maravilla to give Providence a 42-36 lead with 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I felt good throughout the game and I needed to find a way to come through on that shot,” said Zozulenko, a freshman. “You feel like you can make a shot like that and you have confidence. I thought we played well against a real good team.
“I liked the way we started off the game and then they came back and then we got going and had the clock on our side. It’s so great to get to the semifinals and we’ll see what we can do.”
Gordillo, a junior, made three free throws in the final 35 seconds to wrap up the win.
“It was a real fast game and we had to find a way to slow it down at times,’ said Gordillo, who recorded eight points in the second half. “Coach Benzce has trained us to play hard and it’s showing in the playoffs. It’s exciting for me to get to the semifinals for the first time.”
Providence raced to a 13-2 lead on a reverse layup by Zozulenko with 2:05 remaining in the first quarter to cap an 11-0 run.
Arroyo, which tied for second in the Mission Valley League, tied it at 20 with four seconds to go in the first half.
A basket by Zozulenko gave the Pioneers, who opened the playoffs with wins against St. Genevieve and Avalon, a 30-25 lead with 3:51 to play in the third quarter. She posted eight points in the third quarter to help the Pioneers take a 34-29 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Arroyo (18-13) received 12 points each from Claribel Chung and Kailey Thai and seven from Emily Thai.
“Now we get a chance to play the top seed and it will be a great opportunity to see what we can do,” Benzce said. “It’s what you want.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
