On Feb. 28, the Gabrielino High School varsity girls basketball team defeated Rosemead High School 38-23 to win the CIF Southern Section Girls Division Five Championship Finals.
Gabrielino went into the game with two previous losses against Rosemead. Nevertheless, the team rose to the challenge and made adjustments to secure a 38-23 win over the Rosemead Panthers.
“I figured we needed to prepare a lot on the defensive side and the last couple of days that’s pretty much what we based all our practices on —I felt our girls executed it very well on the ground.” Coach Jairo Mendoza shared.
The game commenced at 4 p.m. at Azusa Pacific University with Rosemead winning the tip-off.
Point guard Kimiko Nagata, freshman, landed the first basket, setting the tone for an intense offense in the first quarter.
“During preseason my shoulder was injured and it held me back from playing some games, I had it taped and I just played as best I could with it,” Nagata explained. “I was still confident, I had courage in the team that we were going to win.”
By the end of the game, Nagata had 4 assists and posted 15 points, a new career high. The first quarter concluded with the Eagles leading 14-5.
Going into the second quarter, Gabrielino held onto their lead with an “and one” layup by co-captain Maya Katz, senior, with an assist from Nagata, ending the second quarter with the Eagles leading 25-11.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous, when the game is against your rivals for the championship it’s definitely more nerve-wracking than a usual game. But we were trusting that our coach had prepared us enough and that we knew what we were doing,” shared Katz with a smile.
Rosemead made three shot attempts until shooting guard Riley Yamaguchi, sophomore, snatched the ball back to home court and sank a two-pointer. The third quarter ended 34-18.
Rosemead fought to work their way up but Gabrielino’s offense persisted until the final buzzer and the Eagles won 38-23.
““Hitting down three threes and just hearing the Ooo’s from the crowd was surreal at that moment especially, cause we’re on this bigger stage,” reflected co-captain Ava Yamashita, senior. “I had the ball the last possession so just being able to to dribble it out and soak it all in was really cool.¨
The win marked a historical moment for the team.
“We were in such a big stadium with a bunch of people watching, so just seeing all our hard work finally add up to a Championship win, it’s an amazing feeling,” Yamaguchi commented.
The team thanked the continuous support from their friends, family, and teammates.
“We knew that our teammates had been preparing to play Rosemead for a long time so seeing them execute on the floor like they did it was just so exciting for us to watch,” junior Katelyn Chung said. “My goal is just doing my best to support the team with whatever they need and keeping the energy up whether it’s on the bench or on the court.”
The team will face off against Robert F. Kennedy Community School away on Mar. 4 at 7:00 pm for round one of CIF State Division Five.
“Going into state, we’re going to just play hard and take nothing for granted. Considering this is our last shot as seniors, we just don’t take our foot off the pedal and keep persevering through it all,” Yamashita explained enthusiastically. “We’ll be seeing teams that we’ve never seen before and it’ll be a good time.”
