Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball picks up bounce-back win over Providence

BURBANK — With the Flintridge Prep and Providence girls’ basketball teams coming off losses a day earlier, Saturday afternoon’s third-place game of the Paul Sutton Tournament at Providence provided each squad with an opportunity for a bounce-back effort.

Though each team showed improvement from the evening prior, it was the Rebels and their strong guard play that rolled to a 52-30 victory.

The victory improved the Rebels’ record to 4-1, which allowed Flintridge Prep co-Coach Kevin Kiyomura to wipe the taste of a 60-51 loss to Village Christian on Friday out of his mouth.

“I’m happy with the result because we wanted to make a better showing after the Village Christian game,” Kiyomura said. “We came back today, righted some wrongs and I’m very proud of my team for that.”

Flintridge Prep’s Renae Tamura was named to the all-tournament team

A laceration on the right shoulder did not stop Flintridge Prep guard Taylor Yoshida from turning in a fantastic effort.

The reigning All-Area pick led all scorers with 20 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals and helped the Rebels open up a sizable lead versus the Pioneers (2-2).

Flintridge Prep led, 24-16, at the half, but won the third quarter, 17-7, behind seven points and four assists from Yoshida.

Providence closed its deficit to 28-21 on a jumper from Liz Cruz with 6:05 left in the third when the Rebels began to create separation.

Yoshida assisted freshman guard Kaitlyn Chen (13 points and nine rebounds) and Tamura (seven points, six rebounds and three steals) on jumpers, which, coupled by a free throw from Alex Kyriakakis, suddenly put Flintridge Prep ahead, 33-21, a minute later.

While Providence’s Christie Hoffman countered with two free throws, Yoshida added her own free throw followed by a four-foot runner and a jumper at the two-minute mark that put the visitors ahead, 38-23.

Yoshida then closed out a Rebels’ 13-2 rush with an assist to freshman Andie Kim, who buried a three-pointer before the close of the quarter to give the Rebels a 41-23 lead.

“We really wanted to play better defensively today then we did against Village Christian,” Yoshida said. “We wanted to learn something from that game, take something away from that and use those lessons today. We keep the pressure up on Providence.”

Providence attempted one last rally and scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, capped by a three-pointer from Giselle Camonayan to close within 41-28 with 6:12 left.

Again, though, Flintridge Prep pushed back and finished the game with an 11-2 run.

Even though Providence committed 20 turnovers, coach Andrew Bencze was pleased with the improved effort a day after the Pioneers lost, 57-31, to Notre Dame Academy.

“We know Prep is a quality team and has two outstanding guards in Taylor and Renae and I liked the way we played against them,” Bencze said. “We locked in on them and made it as difficult to score as possible. That type of play was what was missing yesterday.”

The Rebels jumped out to a 9-2 in the first quarter before a bucket from Camonayan right before the quarter closed put the home team down five.

Though Providence never led, the Pioneers battled throughout and pulled within 16-12 with 4:17 left in the second quarter on two free throws from Ariel Gordillo.

Flintridge Prep closed out the first half with an 8-4 spurt to lead by eight at the break.

Hoffman led Providence with nine points, while Camonayan tallied seven points.