Staff Writer
The South Pasadena Girls basketball defeated St. Monica High School on Saturday to take first place in the San Marino Tournament. It beat Pasadena Poly, Santiago and Burbank to lead up to their game against St. Monica.
Kicking off the game, senior Lexie Scholtz hit a 2 point jump shot in the lane. After tough offensive plays, sophomore Jalynne Li knocked down a 3-pointer late in the first quarter to gain a 8-5 score over St. Monica.
With tough offense and defense, senior Sophia Hathaway managed to come in her own and end the half with 6 points, giving South Pasadena a 23-11 lead.
Starting the third quarter, St. Monica began to push back and take advantage of South Pasadena’s smaller team. Although they were switching out their players, St. Monica wasn’t able to crack the formidable South Pasadena defense with junior Kristen Kafkaloff finishing a layup to end the quarter with Tigers up 29-19.
Exhausted and drained, South Pasadena began losing their lead. After St. Monica brought the deficit to 5 points, senior Elise Takahama brought the team back with a 3-pointer, giving South Pasadena a bigger cushion. Desperate to close the lead, St. Monica began getting more physical and sending South Pas to the free throw line, which lead to its downfall. South Pasadena was able to knock down their shots with junior Kristen Kafkaloff sinking the 2 final points of the game at the free throw line, ending the score at 46-38 South Pasadena.
Senior Elise Takahama was awarded MVP award of the tournament with 7 points in the game.
“These four games helped us develop a rhythm to start the season,” Takahama said. “There were some tough teams in this tournament which only boosted our confidence.”
South Pasadena defeated Burbank, Santiago, and Pasadena Poly with scores of 79-60, 60-19 and 67-26, respectively. The Tournament consisted of their first games of their season, giving them a chance to see areas of improvement for their next Tournament, the Brea Olinda Lady Cat Classics.
“This tournament helped us get back into court sense with each other,” Hathaway said. “We haven’t had a real game since playoffs so just getting back on the court and playing as a team is great.”
