Arase Keeps Keppel on Top

Krista Arase connected on two three-point baskets in the fourth quarter as Alhambra Keppel, ranked No. 18 in the Southland by The Times, opened a big lead and then held off No. 23 Sylmar, 59-51, in an intersectional girls’ basketball game Saturday at the Chino Hills Ayala Extravaganza.

Arase, a senior guard who scored nine of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, made her second three-pointer with 2 minutes 54 seconds left to give Keppel (19-3) a 13-point lead, 56-43. Keppel had led by as many as 16 in the third quarter.

But in the final minutes, Lashay Fears answered with two three-pointers, and Katrina Thompson scored off a rebound to cut the deficit to five points, 56-51, with 17 seconds remaining.

“I was proud of the way we came back,” said Fears, a UC Santa Barbara recruit who finished with 20 points. “We could have given up.”

It was a bitter pill for Sylmar (10-7), which has played close games against No. 5 Ventura, No. 7 Lynwood and No. 9 Newhall Hart, but lacks a signature victory for the program.

It was also bitter because Seyram Gbewonyo, averaging a team-high 14 points, fouled out with 2:25 left in the third quarter with eight points. She picked up four fouls in the second quarter, the last while trying to score on a fastbreak with 15 seconds left.

Paola Gupilan, a 5-9 junior, used her strength inside to score 20 points for Keppel.

Leslie Ortiz scored 11 for Sylmar, which never led and trailed at the end of the first quarter, 15-13. The Spartans, City Section semifinalists last season and finalists in 2003, made only one of 12 shots in the second quarter. Keppel led at halftime, 29-19.

“Keppel did a good job of taking us out of our rhythm,” Sylmar Coach Michelle Chevalier said. “They’re so scrappy.”

Martin Henderson

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Courtney Paris had 18 points to lead Piedmont (15-1), the top-ranked team in the state by Cal-Hi Sports magazine, to a 55-52 victory over visiting Long Beach Poly, the top-ranked team in the Southland by The Times.

Jasmine Dixon scored 15 points and April Phillips added 12 for Poly (15-3), which missed a game-tying three-point shot at the buzzer. The Jackrabbits trailed, 32-23, at halftime and by 13 points in the third quarter.

Piedmont beat Long Beach Poly, 44-42, on Dec. 22 in the semifinals of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler, Ariz.

-- Anthony Stitt