Alemany Press Puts Squeeze on Shafter

The game lasted an hour and a half, but the Alemany High girls’ basketball team made certain any competition was over in less than half the time.

With a ferocious full-court press, the Indians scored 18 points on steals in the first quarter, built a 30-point lead in the first half and never let up in an 87-59 victory over Shafter in the first round of the Southern Regional Division III playoffs Tuesday night at L.A. Baptist High.

“I think that was the best press we’ve had all year,” said Alemany senior guard Kelli Kobayashi.

Certainly, it was the best one Shafter faced all season.

“Our girls came out and people were coming at them from all sides,” Shafter Coach Ed Edgmon said. “They were shocked at what happened.”

What happened was that Alemany (25-6) stole the ball five times in the first two minutes, scored eight points after turnovers and had a 12-4 advantage before the game was three minutes old.

Alemany took a 30-13 lead into the second quarter after scoring nine times as a direct result of steals and forcing 16 turnovers in the first quarter.

For Alemany, the only shock was the ease with which the Indians, champions of the Southern Section Division III-AA, manhandled the Generals (22-7), who were Central Section Division III runners-up and were making their second straight appearance in the state playoffs.

“I thought maybe they might give us a little bit of a battle at first, but we came out on fire and we just attacked them,” said Alemany guard Kate Beckler, who had 30 points, nine steals and seven assists.

For Beckler the game was merely a continuation of a postseason tear. She entered the game averaging 23 points in the playoffs, and Shafter could do nothing to shut her down.

Kobayashi had 29 points, six steals and two assists.

Beckler made 11 of 18 shots and was six of seven on free throws. Kobayashi made nine of 15 shots and made all eight of her free throws.

Benefiting from easy shots on the turnovers, Alemany made 54.2% of its shots (32 of 59) for the game.

“We came out hard, and that’s what we talked about,” Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy said. “That’s what we have to do. We press from the get-go.”

The Indians’ early intensity had Shafter in trouble, but the Generals rebounded in the second half, scoring the first six points of the third quarter and prompting Hearlihy to call a timeout to yell at her team.

Otherwise, the only ones with anything to yell about were the Alemany fans.

Shafter, which committed 31 turnovers, got 19 points and eight rebounds from Adrienne Colbert and 16 points by 6-foot-1 center Stefanie Smart, the Generals’ only effective scorer in the first half, when she had 12 points.

Alemany led by 30 points twice in the second quarter and the Indians’ largest advantage was 73-42 after three free throws by Kobayashi with 5:19 to play.

Alemany advanced to a second-round game Thursday against Wasco, a 55-53 winner over La Puente.