Kobayashi Leads Alemany to Predictable Victory

Kelli Kobayashi, Alemany High’s soft-spoken senior guard, has built a reputation as one of the region’s premier three-point shooters.

But even her coach and teammates were stunned when she predicted victory at a TV studio hours before her girls’ basketball team took the court against Mission League rival Harvard-Westlake for the Division III Southern Regional championship.

Kobayashi then scored eight points of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to put the regional title out of reach.

The effort helped Alemany survive a poor shooting night and defeat the Wolverines, 50-45, for the regional championship Saturday night at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

“I was so glad,” teammate Karina Siam said of the prediction. “I knew we were going to win when I heard her say that.”

Siam, a freshman, also showed impressive confidence, scoring a game-high 19 points.

This may not be Alemany High’s most talented girls’ basketball team, but it has been its most gullible.

“I think if I told them they could fly, they would believe me and jump off a cliff,” Hearlihy said.

The Indians will play Northern Regional champion Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep of San Francisco, which beat Lafayette Acalanes, 56-50, next Saturday at Arco Arena.

Porter scored 12 points for Harvard-Westlake (28-6), while L’Tanya Robnett added 10.

While it was a classic matchup, it was far short of a classic game.

Alemany made only 17 of 88 shots (19%), while Harvard-Westlake connected on only 19 of 79 attempts (24%).

“It was an ugly game and it hurts,” said Wolverine guard Brooke Porter, whose team led, 23-21 at halftime.

Porter scored 12 points for Harvard-Westlake (28-6), while L’Tanya Robnett added 10.

Harvard-Westlake (28-6) and Alemany (27-6) had split their two regular-season meetings and shared the league title each of the past two seasons.

“There’s no other team I’d rather see going if it wasn’t us,” Wolverine senior Corrie Roberts said.