Girls’ basketball: “Ugly” shooting leaves Arroyo tied at the top

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An hour after his team’s 38-32 defeat at the hands of Rosemead on Friday night, Arroyo girls’ basketball Coach Mike Gorball was still at a loss for words as to how the Knights managed to lose to an opponent they’d demolished by 25 points two weeks earlier.

‘What can I say.... It happens,’ said Gorball, who has seen it all in his 18 seasons. ‘They played a box-and-one and we just didn’t hit from the outside. I won’t know for sure until I watch the tape, but we couldn’t have shot better than 15%. It was ugly.’

Numbers don’t always tell the entire story but they go a long way towards explaining last night’s outcome. In the teams’ first encounter on Jan. 16, Arroyo blazed to a 40-8 halftime lead and made 10 of 19 three-pointers on its way to a 56-31 victory. Top scorer Annie Ly led the way with 26 points, including eight three-pointers.

Friday’s game was a polar opposite. Instead of leading by 32 points at halftime, Arroyo trailed, 20-10. What’s more, the Knights made only three long-range shots -- all in the fourth quarter. As for Ly, who had scorched the Panthers in their previous meeting... zero points.

Along with the game Arroyo also lost its lead in the Mission Valley League, dropping into a first-place tie with Gabrielino. Each is 6-2 with two games left. ‘What’s most disappointing is that we had the inside track,’ Gorball said. ‘We controlled our own destiny and you hate to let that opportunity slip away.’

-- Steve Galluzzo

-- Image from www.fotosearch.com