Jim Riggio
LA CANADA HIGH -- The La Canada High girls' basketball team walked
in to its gymnasium Thursday night assured that owned at least part of
the Rio Hondo League championship.
A few hours later, the Spartans were left wondering if they will be
able to host their first-round CIF Southern Section playoff game next
Saturday.
Visiting San Marino High, which had just one blemish in league in its
record, came back to upset the Spartans, ranked No. 10 in the CIF IIIAA,
60-50 in the league finale.
"We might get a home game, but we might not," La Canada Coach Dennis
Ballard said of his team, which is 19-6 and 9-1 in league. "I think
they'll look at our overall record."
San Marino (14-9, 9-1) hit the big shots in the end, which led to the
victory.
The Titans hit just four field goals in the fourth quarter, but three
were three-pointers and the other was a three-point play.
"We haven't shot that well all throughout league," said San Marino
Coach Pat Gillan, who is a former La Canada assistant. "We needed
everyone to beat La Canada. This is a great basketball team and we knew
we had to be at our best and we were nearly there."
La Canada's last lead came at 5:33 in the fourth quarter, when Cortney
Adams hit a turn around jumper to make it 45-44.
But the Titans went on a 9-0 run, on three-pointers by Isabelle Wong
and Jennifer Uyeda and a three-point play by Taylor Bouchard.
"The difference was they weren't hitting their three's in the first
game. Uyeda hit three-pointers that we didn't count on," Ballard said.
After both teams were tied at 14 at the end of the first quarter, La
Canada took a 29-24 halftime lead.
Both teams were tied late in the third quarter, until San Marino's Kim
Davis hit a three-pointer with one second left, making it 41-38 going
into the final quarter.
San Marino 14 10 17 19 --60 La Canada 14 15 9 12 --50
SAN MARINO -- J. Uyeda 17, Bouchard 18 and 14 rebounds, Davis 12,
Djang 7, Tater 4, K. Uyeda 2.
Three-pointers: J. Uyeda 4, Davis 3, Djang.
LA CANADA -- Adams 17, Fujimoto 13, Jones 4, Ferguson 6, McCoy 8,
Hurst 2.
Three-pointers: McCoy 2, Fujimoto.
