Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball looks to rebound in state
Less than 24 hours removed from a heartbreaking defeat in the CIF Southern Section Division III-A championship, Flintridge Prep’s girls’ basketball team received its draw for the CIF State Division III playoffs.
The Rebels’ season will play on at home Wednesday night at 7 as they garnered the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Mater Dei Catholic.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” Rebels co-coach Jayme Kiyomura Chan said Saturday night following Prep’s 50-46 loss to Beverly Hills. “Whatever we do going forward is a bonus. They’ve earned the right to continue playing and we look forward to state.”
Should the Rebels win Wednesday, they would advance to Saturday’s second round to likely play on the road at No. 1 Bonita Vista (27-6, San Diego Section Division 1 champion) or host No. 16 Hamilton (17-11, City Section Division II champion).
“We’re going to come and play hard like we always play hard,” Rebel Madison Manning said Saturday. “We have nothing to lose, right?”
Just like Prep, Mater Dei (19-13) is coming off a defeat, as it lost to top-seeded Bonita Vista, 68-59, on Friday in the San Diego Section Division I title game.
Mater Dei is led by junior Chloe Webb (averaging 19.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.8 steals per game entering Friday) and sophomore Marissa Sanchez (13.6 points, 2.4 steals).
Sophomore Kaitlin Chen, who had a game-high 19 points in the CIF final, has led the Rebels throughout the season.
The Rebels, who had a 19-game winning streak halted with Saturday’s loss, will return to the state playoffs after a one-year hiatus. In 2016, Flintridge Prep won the program’s first and only Southern Section title with a triumph in Division V-AA before falling to Village Christian in the second round of the state playoffs.
- Andrew Campa contributed to this story
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
