By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor It might be one day late, but Santa is giving Pasadena area girls basketball fans quite the present. Pasadena, ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 3AA, and La Salle, ranked No. 4 in Division 3A, will meet in an epic showdown Tuesday night at Glendora High at 7:30. Both schools […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
It might be one day late, but Santa is giving Pasadena area girls basketball fans quite the present.
Pasadena, ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 3AA, and La Salle, ranked No. 4 in Division 3A, will meet in an epic showdown Tuesday night at Glendora High at 7:30.
Both schools made CIF-SS semifinal runs last season.
La Salle point guard Julia Macabuhay is the reigning Pasadena Sports Now Girls Basketball Player of the Year (in 2016), and has carried over her great play so far.
PHS features sophomore guard Kamesha Moore and forward Taurie Magee.
Moore and Magee are easily considered in the upper echelon of the area’s elite players, and both do so many things to make the Bulldogs go.
This showdown also presents a chess match between PHS’ Jett del Mundo and La Salle’s Freedom McCullough, the reigning Pasadena Sports Now Girls Basketball co-Coaches of the Year.
The four-day, 16-team tournament begins Tuesday and the title game is scheduled for 7:30 on Friday night at Glendora High School.
Macabuhay has led the Lancers (8-3), it seems each night in scoring and steals, not to mention her ability to rebound and dish out assists.
Brianna Antillon and Alyssa Arroyo have also played key roles in La Salle’s success..
Pasadena (8-2) has arguably a more balanced team with Magee and Moore, as well as Mariah Cathcart and others.
But as it usually seems to be the case when two really good teams meet up, the program that shoots and rebounds better will leave the 91741 Tuesday night as the victor.
In the second round, La Salle will battle Yucaipa (4-2) at 10:30 a.m. and Pasadena gets Covina (7-5) at 6 on Wednesday night.
The Tartans, however, aren’t to be taken lightly either.
In fact, they have to be considered the favorite.
GHS has begun the season 10-0 and is ranked No. 2 in Division 2A.
Alexis Lowden paces Glendora with 21 points and 10 rebounds per game.
The schedule of the entire tournament is at the bottom of this story.
Quotable:
PHS coach Jett del Mundo: “We challenged ourselves at Pasadena in playing a very difficult tournament schedule by entering the Keppel, Burroughs and Glendora tournaments. Our plan is to be ready for our demanding league schedule and ultimately for the CIF-SS playoffs by competing against high-quality opponents, which allows our team to gain valuable experience.”
La Salle coach Freedom McCullough: “This is just another opportunity for us to grow as a program in a highly-competitive atmosphere, and we have the opportunity to compete against one of the best local programs, and in a higher division. It is a great opportunity to get prepared for one of our short-term goals, which is to win league.”
PHS senior Taurie Magee: “I hope to gain execution on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. As much as this is two good teams from Pasadena, we need to treat this like it’s any other game. We need to play together and play hard.”
La Salle senior Julia Macabuhay: “The Glendora Tournament is tough. The next few days will challenge us and make us up our play. Pasadena is a very good team and they’re not going to make it easy for us. We need to focus on the things that work for us and just go out and play basketball.”
