The Gaels (7-9, 4-3 in league) pulled into a tie for second with Alverno. Holy Family and Alverno are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Foothill Community Church in Pasadena. Alverno posted a 36-30 win Jan. 14 in the first matchup.
A Holy Family loss to Alverno would put the Gaels in a tie for third with L.A. Sacred Heart of Jesus. The teams split the two season meetings, meaning a tiebreaker would be necessary to determine who would move on to the playoffs next week.
Holy Family had to work extremely hard just to get past Bishop Conaty-Loretto, which saw its 31-game league winning streak come to a close. The Gaels led throughout, getting a balanced scoring attack to overcome the Wildcats (12-9, 7-1).
“I think we wanted it more,” said first-year Holy Family Coach Ernest Siy, whose squad suffered a 40-34 road loss to Bishop Conaty-Loretto on Jan. 20. “I don’t think we’ve done that all season.
“We took care of the ball and got to a lot of loose balls. I told them from the beginning [Saturday] that we had to play intense man-to-man defense and allow the opportunities to come on offense for us.”
The Gaels, who won their third consecutive contest, certainly won most of the battles against the Wildcats.
Lachica and Talab paved the way for the Gaels, who also got six points apiece from Jennifer Fisher, Adriana Quintero and Clarisa Romero.
“It was very intense out there,” said Lachica, who also contributed a game-high 11 rebounds and four assists. “It seemed like everybody on our team was connecting and providing good communication.
“[Coach Siy] told us what we needed to do before the game. He said the best we could do is second place. I thought we played our hardest.”
Holy Family wrapped up the game with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Talab scored on a layup to give Holy Family a 34-24 lead. As an added bonus, Bishop Conaty-Loretto Coach Manuel Fernandez was whistled for a technical foul for arguing with the two game officials. Fisher made both technical free throws to extend the lead to 36-24.
