Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball turns aside Village Christian
BURBANK — For an indefinite amount of time, the Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball team will look to fill a huge void in the middle of its talented lineup.
With starting center and reigning All-Area selection Tala Ismail sidelined with a right knee injury sustained prior to the start of the season, the Rebels will look to be more creative at both ends of the court.
Flintridge Prep proved to be up to the task Monday, as it didn’t allow a point in the fourth quarter and posted a 47-29 pool-play victory against Village Christian in the 27th annual Providence Paul Sutton Tip-Off Classic at Providence High.
Taylor Yoshida paced Flintridge Prep (2-0) with 15 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists and helped the Rebels successfully begin defense of their tournament championship.
“Tala is a great leader who can do so many things well,” Yoshida said. “With her not being able to play, we all now have to step it up and we think we have the team that can do it.
“In the fourth quarter, you saw what we can do defensively. We stayed focused and we had a lot of energy.”
Flintridge Prep, which won the Prep League championship and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division V-AA semifinals last season, held a 34-29 lead through three quarters. The Rebels then stymied the Crusaders (0-1), who missed all nine shots in the fourth quarter.
“We had a lot of people step up in the last quarter,” said Flintridge Prep co-Coach Kevin Kiyomura, whose team will meet Ramona Convent in another pool-play contest at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bellarmine-Jefferson High. “We were able to get some steals and we rebounded well.
“It’s tough not to have Tala out there, but we will look for ways to become exponentially better with the players we have.”
After Village Christian took a 28-26 lead with 2:56 left in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Micaela Cacho-Negrete, a La Crescenta resident, Flintridge Prep promptly shut down Village Christian over the remaining 11 minutes. Renae Tamura of Flintridge Prep scored on a short shot as time expired in the third quarter to give the Rebels a 34-29 advantage.
A layup by Natalie Benn gave the Rebels a 38-29 lead with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Natalie Rozman extended Flintridge Prep’s lead to 41-29 with 5:37 to go.
Yoshida and Tamura collected 11 and six points, respectively, in the first half. Flintridge Prep held a 24-20 halftime advantage.
Tamura finished the contest with 13 points, six steals and four assists for the Rebels, who received 10 points from Rozman and seven rebounds from Benn.
Cacho-Negrete registered a team-high 12 points and 11 rebounds.
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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
