Staff Writer
Photos by Tucker Judkins
With the buzzer sounding, the South Pasadena Tigers took their third Rio Hondo League Victory, defeating Temple City 75-35 on Wednesday, January 21.
Temple City point guard senior Sabrina Law knocked down a three pointer to start off the game. South Pas fired back immediately when senior guard Lexie Scholtz took a two pointer to get the Tigers on the board. Temple City kept the momentum up when senior center Kristy Yeung put up a four point play, followed by tough defense. The Tigers got their motions going when Scholtz took another two pointer, allowing the Tigers to get their intensity up. Not long after, junior guard Kristen Kafkaloff went on a five point play until Rams sophomore center Sommer Rosas finished the first quarter with a three pointer from downtown for a score of 12-10, with South Pas in the lead.
The Tigers kept up the momentum when Scholtz tallied up four points, followed by Kafkaloff drilling a three and two pointer. With two free throws put in in by Scholtz, South Pas went on a 13-0 run until Temple City junior guard Jordan Mar hit a three pointer. Both teams went back and forth until senior center Sophia Hathaway closed out the first half with a buzzer beater from the ground for a halftime score of 38-18.
With their intensity up, the Tigers came out the third quarter with Kafkaloff getting a two pointer, alongside Hathaway shooting a two point putback. Rams senior S. Law banked shot a three-pointer to close the increasing gap between the two teams. That’s when senior point guard Elise Takahama took the breath out of Temple City with her own three pointer. Going into the fourth quarter, the Tigers pushed the tempo with senior guard Natalie Song keeping the score up with a two pointer. Temple City junior guard Janelle Santos put up one last three pointer for the Rams, but it was too late as South Pas finished the game with a 75-35 win.
“Temple City usually comes out aggressively on defense and though there were a few times when we got a little flustered, we [were] still off to a strong start,” Takahama said. “We had lots of ball movement today and it seems like we’re establishing a really nice rhythm that will carry us through league and hopefully beyond.”
Guards Kafkaloff and Scholtz had 26 and 20 points, respectively, followed by center Hathaway with 19 points. Takahama shot in six points and guards Song and Taryn Kato each had two points.
The teams fourth conference game will be hosted by Monrovia High School on Friday, January 23 at 5:15 p.m. South Pas took two victories over Monrovia the previous season.
