Keppel Fails to Clear Big Hurdle

Sometimes, Lani Marsden can see it in her opponents’ eyes.

“We’re all shorties,” said Marsden, a valedictorian at Alhambra Keppel who, at 5 feet 8 inches, is also the second-tallest player on the girls’ basketball team.

“We walk into the gym and it’s like, ‘Why’d you bring your JV?’ ”

But there is nothing junior varsity about the play of Marsden and her Keppel teammates, who this year fashioned one of the best seasons of any school in the Southern Section.

The issue of size, though, caught up with the Aztecs, who fell, 65-62, to Corona Centennial in a Division II-AA quarterfinal game Wednesday at Keppel.

Keppel’s tallest player, 5-foot-9 center Monique Diaz, suffered a sprained ankle in the last 10 seconds of the first half, when the Aztecs had built a 31-28 lead.

After halftime, 6-foot-1 sophomore Jenna Sybesma scored 19 of her 24 points against a hobbled Diaz.

“I knew it was a problem when I went down,” said Diaz, who finished with a team-high 23 points, 16 in the first half. “I knew it was going to hurt my defense and be hard for me to move my feet.”

Diaz managed only one of her seven rebounds in the second half and failed to score in the third quarter.

Centennial (22-7) made 25 of 49 shots and was five of nine from three-point range, including four from Courtney Brandon, who finished with 16 points.

Keppel led, 49-47, after three quarters and had a 55-49 lead with 5:39 left when Lisa Yamasaki and Krista Arase, two of three 5-foot-4 starting guards, made consecutive three-point shots. Keppel made only three shots the rest of the way, all by Diaz.

Jessica Liang, the other 5-4 guard, had a chance to tie the score but missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

“I’ve never seen a team shoot that well against us,” said Keppel Coach Minnie Caluag, adding Diaz’s injury aided Centennial. “There’s a correlation there.”

Centennial advances to play Perris (24-5) on Saturday in a semifinal at Corona High.

“We brought our A-plus game,” Centennial Coach Dominic Evans said. “We had to. Anything less and we’d have gone home with a 10-point loss.”

The Aztecs, who were ranked fifth in the Southland by The Times at the end of the regular season, were trying to get to its first semifinal in school history. They finished with a 26-4 record.

Keppel went into the playoffs last season without being tested during the season. The Aztecs could beat teams that weren’t as good, but hadn’t learned how to win against better competition.

So Caluag, who had coached the junior varsity for 13 years, made the schedule tougher in her first season with the varsity.

“I felt we needed more of a challenge,” Caluag said. “If we lose, we lose, but at least we get that experience for the playoffs. That’s one reason why we don’t get past the third round.”

The Aztecs won 23 of their last 25 games, the only other loss a 61-50 setback to No. 3 Long Beach Poly.

In that stretch, Keppel defeated No. 6 Brea Olinda, No. 8 Long Beach Wilson, No. 12 Rialto Eisenhower, No. 16 Palmdale and No. 21 San Bernardino.

One reason for Keppel’s success was that defenses couldn’t focus on one particular player. Diaz averaged 16.5 points and shot 58% from the field. Liang averaged 14.9 points and shot 50%. Marsden averaged 10.9 points and shot 54%.

Sophomore point guard Krista Arase averaged 9.7 points and shot 48%. Interchangeable defensive specialists Shaton Harris and Yamasaki average 10 points between them.

In the three wins preceding the game against Centennial, three different players were high scorers: Diaz with 23 against Bell Gardens, Liang with 20 against Montebello and Arase with 18 against Santa Barbara.

“We’re disappointed with this loss,” said Marsden, who hopes to attend Stanford or Harvard to become a math or physics professor. “This was a team with great heart. We just didn’t get it done.”