By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Something had to give Friday night in the semifinal round of the Glendora Tournament. The host Tartans entered the game 13-0, were ranked No. 2 in the CIF-SS Division 2A poll and their closest game was a 39-point victory over South Torrance just under two weeks ago. Pasadena is ranked […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Something had to give Friday night in the semifinal round of the Glendora Tournament.
The host Tartans entered the game 13-0, were ranked No. 2 in the CIF-SS Division 2A poll and their closest game was a 39-point victory over South Torrance just under two weeks ago.
Pasadena is ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 3AA, they are coming off a year they made a semifinal run in the playoffs and their core is all back for coach Jett del Mundo.
In the first half, the bigger and stronger Bulldogs led for most of the first 16 minutes.
They owned the boards and pushed the smaller Tartans around.
But Glendora’s pressure turned PHS turnovers into points and ran away with a 20-point surge in the second half.
GHS stayed perfect with its 55-33 win over the Bulldogs on Friday evening.
Alexis Lowden, who just reached the prestigious 1,000 point mark of her career Thursday led all scorers with 18 points.
Piatris Guirguis added 13 for the Tartans and Michelle Can had 9.
Pasadena was led offensively by Mariah Cathcart.
The Bulldogs senior had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Cathcart gave her teammates and coaching staff a scare when she went down with what looked to be a knee injury.
But Cathcart showed her mettle by returning until the game got out of reach.
Tatiana Ayala finished with 7 points and 16 rebounds and Taurie Magee chipped in with 6 points and 11 boards.
GHS’ McKayla Tilton finished with 6 points on a pair of 3-point baskets and she had a beautiful behind-the-back pass to create a lay up basket for a teammate during a rally.
Pasadena will face Upland (10-4) on Saturday night at 6 in the third-place game.
The Highlanders dropped a 35-34 semifinal showdown with Rancho Verde.
Glendora will vie for their own tournament title Saturday night at 7:30 against the Mustangs (11-1).
Quotable:
PHS coach Jett del Mundo: “In the second half, we lost our composure. We expected them to come out hard with their press, which they’ve done to every team, and we neutralized that. You have to bring it for four quarters. The better team won.”
GHS coach Adam Nunemaker: “Pasadena is a great team and is a very difficult match up for us. They do a lot of things well that we don’t like rebounding, It took us a while to figure out how to play up with their size.”
GHS senior Alexis Lowden: “We tried our best to put more pressure on them to play fast. We were able to do our thing (in the second half). It was really tough (matching their size). We were able to be faster. We really stepped up today.”
GHS junior Piatris Guirguis: “Our coach really talked to us about pressuring the ball (to pull away in the second half). They’re more physical than other teams, but we’ve pushed ourselves in practice for this. We’re working really hard and we’ve got a really good coach.
Box Score:
PHS: 10-9-7-6-(33)
GHS: 9-13-12-21-(55)
Records:
Pasadena (10-4); Glendora (14-0)
