Prep League title share goes to Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball
LA CAÑADA – Dominance has had a home as of late in Prep League girls’ basketball and that locale is Flintridge Prep.
The Rebels captured their 30th straight league victory, 49-43, over archrival Pasadena Poly on Saturday afternoon to clinch a share of the program’s fifth consecutive league crown.
“It’s a nice accomplishment to clinch a share of the title,” said Flintridge Prep co-coach Kevin Kiyomura, who shares the duties with Jayme Chan. “We knew today was going to be intense. It’s like UCLA-USC and you want to come out and do your best, but you also want to play within yourself.”
CIF Southern Section Division III-A fourth-ranked Flintridge Prep is 17-5, 9-0 in league, while Division IV-A third-ranked Poly dropped to 13-3, 6-3.
Kaitlyn Chen turned in a fantastic scoring effort with 27 points, four rebounds and three steals, while Andie Kim added 11 points for the Rebels.
Junior forward Alexis Pappachan netted a team-high 15 points for the Panthers, who received 14 points from Keara Caragher.
The Rebels led for 31 of 32 minutes in Saturday’s contest and took a 41-30 advantage after three quarters after back-to-back runners from Chen with under a minute left.
Poly trimmed its deficit to two possessions three times in the second half, the first coming on a lay-up from Caragher with 4:49 left that brought the Panthers within 43-37.
Flintridge Prep responded to the challenge with a free throw and field goal from Sofia Gonzalez (seven points) to push that lead back up to nine points.
Another basket from Caragher at 1:31 brought the Panthers within 47-41.
Again, Flintridge Prep pushed back with a 10-footer from sophomore Alex Kyriakakis with just over a minute left that put the Rebels ahead, 49-41.
“We’ve had some rough third quarters this season, but we pushed through and stuck with our game plan to attack,” Chen said. “That’s how we won.”
Poly play inspired basketball in the first quarter and finished tied at 15 after eight minutes due to an acrobatic offensive put back by Caragher as time expired.
The Rebels won the second quarter, 15-9, thanks in part to the defense of Madison Manning.
The junior forward took on Poly’s talented junior forward Pappachan and worked to drive her out of the paint.
“We’re both pretty big so it was a battle,” said Manning, who finished with 14 rebounds and four blocks.
Though the Rebels didn’t score all too well in the third quarter, they still won the frame, 11-6, to take an 11-point advantage into the fourth.
Flintridge Prep can clinch the league title outright with a victory at second-place Pasadena Poly on Tuesday. The Rebels close out with contests versus Firebaugh on Wednesday and against Mayfield on Thursday.
