Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball bound for semifinals
In the CIF Southern Section Division 3-A girls’ basketball quarterfinal between host Flintridge Prep and Cerritos High, neither team had lost in 2018 and both were riding double-digit winning streaks. Something had to give.
When the final horn sounded, it was the Rebels who had not yielded. Against the Dons, Flintridge Prep stayed in control throughout the contest to earn a 60-47 victory and advance to the Division III-A semifinals on Saturday.
“I would say we’ve exceeded our expectations at this point and we’re going to take it a game at a time [going forward],” Rebel co-coach Kevin Kiyomura said.
Flintridge Prep (23-5) has won 18 games in a row. The Rebels have also surpassed last postseason’s mark, when they fell in the quarterfinals, as they head into Saturday’s semis where they’ll take to the road to face Cypress Oxnard Academy. Cerritos (25-5) saw its 18-game win streak and the season come to an end.
“This was a gritty win,” Kiyomura said.
Once again Kaitlyn Chen led the way for the fourth-seeded Rebels. The sophomore scored a game-high 29 points with many coming off the fast break, slicing through the defense to the rack.
“We saw a phenomenal player on the other side [in Chen],” Cerritos coach Marcus Chinen said. “She’s a great player. We just couldn’t stop her. I think they all fed off of that, the rest of her team and that was a difference maker.”
Rebel Sofia Gonzalez also came up big against the Suburban League champions. The freshman tallied 17 points off the bench and was a key ball handler as Cerritos tried desperately to deny Chen the ball down the stretch.
“We’ve been bringing [Gonzalez] off the bench for a little spark and it was a big spark today,” Kiyomura said.
The Rebels led 35-32 going into the final period, but then the hosts asserted themselves, led by the combo of Chen and Gonzalez, who scored 13 and eight, respectively, in the quarter.
“This is huge for us. We worked together really well as a team today and we came out and gave it our all,” Chen said.
Flintridge Prep, which won its fifth straight Prep League title this season, started the fourth with a 10-3 run and never looked back. The Rebels finished things off at the free throw line with Chen and Gonzalez combining to go nine of 10 in the final two minutes.
Flintridge Prep took its first lead in the final minute of the first quarter on a Gonzalez drive, but the Dons responded and held the advantage, 11-10, after one. The Rebels took the lead for good in the opening moments of the second when Chen dipped her shoulder in the lane and drove into the paint for a basket. She then promptly stole the ball and scored again.
The closest the visitors came to regaining the lead after the first came with just under three minutes left in the third. Don Alyxe Tamaki made a long three-pointer to knot the score at 32. However, Gonzalez promptly answered, draining her own three-pointer from even farther outside the arc for the final points of the quarter.
Flintridge Prep had six players score at least two points in the game. Madison Manning battled inside all night and came away with seven points. Emma Stellar had three points, but her one field goal was big, coming in the opening flurry of the fourth after she caught an air ball and put the ball back up over her shoulder for the hoop.
Cerritos was led in scoring by Minh-thy Vo, who had 18, including eight of her team’s 15 fourth-quarter points.