By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor The 2017-18 Pasadena area girls basketball scene saw Flintridge Prep lead the way, but Poly, La Salle, Maranatha and Mayfield all won at least two postseason games apiece. Flintridge Prep (24-7) won their fifth consecutive Prep League championship and did so unscathed. The Rebels have won 33 consecutive Prep League […]
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor
The 2017-18 Pasadena area girls basketball scene saw Flintridge Prep lead the way, but Poly, La Salle, Maranatha and Mayfield all won at least two postseason games apiece.
Flintridge Prep (24-7) won their fifth consecutive Prep League championship and did so unscathed.
The Rebels have won 33 consecutive Prep League games, and they made a CIF-SS Division 3A title game appearance.
They fell just shy to Beverly Hills, 50-46.
The scary part, though, is that each of their key players from this title run will be back next year and in many cases, the next couple of years.
Prep was led by our co-Player of the Year Kaitlyn Chen, as well as Sofia Gonzalez, Andie Kim and Madison Manning.
Poly (18-6) finished tied for second in the Prep League with Mayfield.
The Panthers got solid efforts all season from Sarah Johnson, Kylie Kishi, Alexis Pappachan and many others.
Poly had a CIF-SS Division 4A semifinal run with victories over Moreno Valley, Notre Dame and Maranatha, before falling to Cathedral City.
La Salle (20-8) earned a Santa Fe League championship with an 8-0 record.
The Lancers were led by the area’s most dynamic player in senior an co-Player of the Year, Julia Macabuhay.
They also had important contributions from Alyssa Arroyo, Zarah Huo, Crystal Ramirez, Brianna Antillon and Nicole Ortiz
La Salle won CIF-SS Division 3A playoff games over Chaparral and Mission Prep before being jobbed by several controversial calls at Oxford Academy in the quarterfinal round.
Mayfield (17-9) tied Poly for second, but earned the No. 2 seed because of their season sweep of the Panthers.
The Cubs were led by Marguerite Irie, Trinity Gomez, Sarah Tupy and Katy Tupy.
Mayfield earned victories over Marshall and California Lutheran in the CIF-SS Division 5AAA playoffs.
Maranatha (16-12) finished in a three-way tie for second with Whittier Christian and Valley Christian.
The Minutemen were led all season by sophomore Patil Yaacoubian and freshman Emily Jordan.
Maranatha made a solid playoff run with CIF-SS Division 4A playoff victories over Eastside and California Academy of Math & Science before falling to Poly in the quarterfinal round.
The 2017-18 Pasadena Sports Now Girls Basketball All-Stars
Brianna Antillon, La Salle Junior: The Lancers junior was one of those player’s who’s worth couldn’t be measured by stats alone. She averaged 10 points, 2 assists and a pair of steals per game, and helped La Salle win a Santa Fe League championship and two CIF-SS Division 3A playoff games.
Alyssa Arroyo, La Salle Senior: The Lancers senior guard averaged 12 points and 4 steals for the Santa Fe League champions. Over the past two seasons, Arroyo has been part of a program that had CIF-SS semifinal and quarterfinal playoff runs.
Kahlani Banks, Marshall Sophomore: The Eagles sophomore helped Marshall earn a CIF-SS playoff appearance. Banks averaged 11 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals for a Marshall team that finished third in the Mission Valley League.
Mariah Cathcart, Pasadena Senior: The Bulldogs senior was one of the area’s most consistent and impactful players. Cathcart averaged 8 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 5 assists each night for PHS and helped raised the program’s status the last two years.
Janna DeVera, FSHA Sophomore: The Tologs sophomore earned second-team all-Mission League honors. Despite it being a rough year for the program, DeVera shined with 9 points, 3 steals and 2 assists per game for FSHA.
Trinity Gomez, Mayfield Senior: The Cubs senior played a big role in Mayfield earning the No. 2 seed out of the Prep League. She averaged 8 points, 3 assists and a pair of steals per game, which helped lead the Cubs to a pair of CIF-SS Division 5AAA playoff victories.
Sofia Gonzalez, Flintridge Prep Freshman: The Rebels freshman had a huge first year at the prep level. Gonzalez averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals for the Prep League champions and the CIF-SS Division 3A runners up.
Marguerite Irie, Mayfield Senior: The Cubs senior helped lead the program to not only a second-place finish in the tough Prep League, they also won a pair of CIF-SS Division 5AAA playoff games. Irie averaged 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
Sarah Johnson, Poly Senior: The Panthers senior was solid throughout and helped lead Poly to the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 4A playoffs. She average 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists per game and carried her share of the offense the past two seasons.
Emily Jordan, Maranatha Freshman: The Lady Minutemen freshman had a huge first season at the prep level. Her 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game helped MHS win a pair of CIF-SS Division 4A playoff games.
Andie Kim, Flintridge Prep Sophomore: The Rebels sophomore scored 8 points, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game for the Prep League champs. Kim also did her part in getting the Rebels to the CIF-SS Division 3A title-game.
Kylie Kishi, Poly Sophomore: The Panthers sophomore had a great second season at Poly. Her 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists per game helped Poly make a CIF-SS Division 4A semifinal playoff run, and they finished tied for second in the Prep League.
Madison Manning, Flintridge Prep Junior: The Rebels junior was most effective guarding Prep’s highest scoring opponent on defense and shutting them down. Manning also averaged 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and one steal each game.
Kamesha Moore, Pasadena Sophomore: The Bulldogs super-sophomore was the area’s only player, boy or girl to average a triple-double. Moore had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and she’ll likely be the area’s most complete player next season.
Nicole Ortiz, La Salle Junior: The Lancers junior averaged a double-double for the Santa Fe League champions. Ortiz had 10 points and 11 rebounds as La Salle went 8-0 in league and won CIF-SS Division 3A playoff games over Chaparral and Mission Prep.
Alexis Pappachan, Poly Senior: The Panthers senior is a multi-sport star. She dominated on the volleyball court and then averaged 9 points, 11 rebounds and a blocked shot per game for a Poly team that made a CIF-SS Division 4A semifinal playoff run.
Kameria Piggee, Pasadena Freshman: The Bulldogs freshman had an incredible first year at the prep level. She scored 8 points, had a team-high 12 rebounds and 4 steals per game for PHS. She’ll be one of the area’s elite returning players for the next three years.
Crystal Ramirez, La Salle Sophomore: The Lancers sophomore was key in La Salle making a quarterfinal run in the CIF-SS Division 3A playoffs, and winning the Santa Fe League title unbeaten. She averaged 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists each night.
Katy Tupy, Mayfield Junior: The Cubs junior helped the program to a No. 2 seed out of the Prep League thanks to a season sweep over Poly. She averaged 6 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of rebounds and assists for a Mayfield program that won two CIF-SS 5AAA playoff games.
Sarah Tupy, Mayfield Freshman: The Cubs freshman has been described as one of the Prep League’s premier underclassmen and someone to look out for after averaging 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and a steal per game. She and her sister, Katy, made quite the tag-team for Mayfield.
Patil Yaacoubian, Maranatha Sophomore: The Lady Minutemen sophomore proved her freshman year was no fluke with a giant sequel this season. She averaged 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and one block for Maranatha, an in their CIF-SS Division 4A quarterfinal run.
