Holy Family done in by host Archer

GLENDALE — Holy Family basketball Coach Ernest Siy held a pregame meeting with his squad less than an hour before beginning its playoff journey.

Siy wanted to make sure the Gaels knew who they were up against entering their CIF Southern Section Division V-A opening-round contest against sixth-seeded Archer.

“I said this is not the Horizon League,” said Siy, whose team saw its season finish Thursday night with a 69-38 defeat against Archer at Santa Monica City College. “This is a team that’s bigger, faster and stronger than teams we see in our league.

“You have to step up your game against a team like this.”

Holy Family, which finished second in league behind Alverno, did start off strong. The Gaels held a 10-8 lead early in the first quarter. However, Archer, which improved to 17-6 after placing second in the Delphic League, closed out the first half on 31-9 run to build a 43-19 halftime advantage.

Holy Family encountered a scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes in the first half. The Gaels, who got 10 points apiece from senior guard Gayle Lachica and junior forward Jennifer Rodriguez, couldn’t match up with the Panthers.

“We had a lot of turnovers and then we had the shooting drought,” said Siy, whose team qualified for the playoffs for the second season in a row. “They just poured it on and they were very dominant on the boards.

“That’s a real good team with a lot of weapons.”

Junior guard Gaby Diaz added seven points for Holy Family.

“The goal at the beginning of the year for us is to win league and get a berth in the playoffs,” Siy said. “We came up short with the league title, but we did make it to CIF.

“Now, we want to be able to get past the first round. I think we will have a shot at that next year.”