Holy Family basketball closes out summer on winning note
BURBANK — Having split 12 games during the summer, Holy Family basketball Coach Ernest Siy came away pleased.
Siy, who guided the Gaels to an appearance in the CIF Southern Section Division V-A playoffs last season following a third-place finish in the Horizon League, used each game to make sure the fundamentals were grasped.
“It’s one of our better records during the summer in the time I’ve been here,” Siy said after Holy Family registered a 20-12 victory against Milken Community on Thursday in a Providence High Summer League contest. “We beat some quality schools who are bigger than us, so that’s always something good for the team to build on.
“We have a better idea of what we need to work on heading into the [regular] season. We need to be a little better at being able to close out games.”
Holy Family received a team-high seven points from senior guard Charisse Talaro, a reigning all-league second-team selection. Aia Intrepido and Gabby Perez contributed six and five points, respectively, for Holy Family.
The Gaels encountered some struggles on offense in the second half after building a 14-9 halftime advantage.
A three-pointer by Intrepido gave Holy Family an 18-9 lead with 16:50 remaining in the game. The Gaels would not score again until Paige Losoya converted on a layup with 20 seconds left to cap the scoring.
“We threw the ball away a little too much in the final two or three minutes,” Siy said. “It’s better to get it out of the way in the summer and it’s something we will fix later on.
“Charisse had a good game again. She’s progressed nicely with her ball handling and we will look to her to be one of our key players next season.”
Talaro scored all of her points in the first half to spur the Gaels.
She made a three-pointer to give Holy Family a 5-2 lead with 14:45 left in the first half. Talaro then made a jump shot to make it 11-2 with 10:50 to go and cap an 11-0 run. Another jump shot by Talaro extended Holy Family’s advantage to 14-4 with 7:08 left.
Talaro said the Gaels achieved some positive results during the past six weeks.
“It’s more about being able to develop more chemistry with the new players who have come in and trying to build a bond,” Talaro said. “I’m trying to be more of a leader and make better decisions on the court. We didn’t score much in the second half, but we didn’t panic and were able to get the win.”
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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .
