Pomona Ganesha 54, Alemany 47--The dream of...

Pomona Ganesha 54, Alemany 47--The dream of a second consecutive Southern Section Division III-AA championship ended for Alemany in the semifinals at Chaminade High.

It ended at the hands of a Ganesha squad that simply had too much size and quickness for the Indians (20-8).

“It seemed like we could never settle down,” Alemany Coach Melissa Hearlihy said. “Their zone was very big and we could never penetrate.”

One of the biggest factors was Ganesha center Veranda James, who dominated inside and finished with 11 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

When James wasn’t causing problems for Alemany underneath the basket, the second-seeded Giants (26-4) relied on the penetration of guard Angie Thomas. She finished with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds.

Junior guard Kate Beckler scored nine of her 21 points in the final quarter and the Indians pulled to within 43-42 on a layup by Anna Karas with 2:34 remaining.

But Thomas scored seven points in the final 2:10 to help the Giants hold off the Indians and advance to the section final for the first time.