La Cañada girls’ basketball passes stiffest league test for share of title
La Cañada High’s Kristina Kurdoghlian and the Spartans clinched at least a share of the Rio Hondo League title with Friday’s win.
It had been smooth sailing for the La Cañada High girls’ basketball team in Rio Hondo League play this season.
Through seven games, the Spartans convincingly defeated league opponents by an average margin of 38 points, including a 30-point win over league stalwart South Pasadena on Jan. 20.
La Cañada visited South Pasadena for its second meeting of the year Friday evening, and while the league mark remained unblemished, the Spartans were in for an expected battle against a Tigers team that would have been in a first-place tie atop the league standings with a win.
Ultimately, clutch shots and key defensive stops resulted in a 60-54 win for La Cañada — its second single-digit victory all season as it allowed the highest scoring output by an opponent.
With the win, La Cañada clinched a share of the league title. The Spartans finished behind the Tigers in the standings last season after the teams shared the league crown in 2014.
“There were a couple games that prepared us for a game like this, but it’s been a while,” said first-year Spartans Coach Sarah Beattie, whose team improved to 21-2, 8-0 in league, with wins in 13 of the last 14. “We knew it wouldn’t be the same as last time. In this gym, against Tammy [Lai], you know you have to play hard and play your best.”
Similarly to the first meeting, La Cañada saw big production from frontcourt players Amber Graves and Zoe Williams. The duo combined for 35 points on Friday, with Graves leading the team with 19 points and making up for Williams (16 points) being in foul trouble in both halves.
“First game, we were killed in the post,” said South Pasadena Coach Tammy Lai, whose team had four players score in double figures. “Their bigs drive that team and we knew we couldn’t change our size, so we doubled down, fronted them, sagged off when they were outside and made the other players beat us. The girls executed to perfection, but we missed a couple shots and couldn’t get a handle on some loose balls.”
Graves was huge in a thrilling fourth quarter that also saw the Spartans get clutch three-pointers from Sydney Lew, Sarah Kurdoghlian and Kristina Kurdoghlian. La Cañada maintained the lead throughout the fourth quarter and only trailed on one occasion in the game, but the Tigers cut the deficit down to a single point on three occasions over the final eight minutes.
South Pas’ Kristen Kafkaloff maintained slight momentum garnered at the end of the third quarter with a basket inside to start the fourth quarter and bring the Spartans’ lead down to 41-40. Lew answered with a wide-open three on the right wing to regain some cushion. Williams exited the game early in the fourth with foul trouble, allowing Juliana Tom, Jade Lin, and Lauren Kafkaloff to drive in on La Cañada’s defense, get easy baskets and stay on La Cañada’s heels.
Graves helped keep the Tigers (12-6, 6-2) from clawing their way back, highlighted by a three-point play off an offensive rebound to give the Spartans a 47-41 advantage. Tom answered minutes later with a three from the left wing, cutting the lead back down to one point and prompting a La Cañada timeout at the 3:42 mark.
The lead was cut to one point again on Lin’s jumper before Sarah Kurdoghlian connected on a much-needed three. South Pasadena answered to cut the deficit in half. This time around, Kristina Kurdoghlian was found in the right corner for a long ball that gave the Spartans a 57-52 lead.
Seconds later, with the game within one possession again, Williams’ lay-up with the shot clock at zero clinched the game.
South Pasadena held a brief lead on Tom’s three-pointer early in the first quarter. Kristina Kurdoghlian responded with two of the team’s 14 second-chance points in the first half and the Spartans led thereafter, leading by as many as 10 points in the third quarter.
“We didn’t come out shooting well and our rotations were a little slow,” Beattie said. “We got into some foul trouble, which didn’t help, but our subs made some timely contributions and stepped up. We can’t win close games like this without them.
“Our starters showed composure down the stretch. I told them at halftime to pull it out and it’s exciting as a coach to see them do that.”