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With a 38-18 victory over Brea, the Los Alamitos girls junior varsity basketball team won the third place trophy last week in the top Gold Division of the El Toro Thanksgiving Classic tournament.
In the Saturday, November 30 game, the Griffins fell behind early and finished the low-scoring first quarter trailing Brea 4-6. However, Los Alamitos broke out of its scoring doldrums in the second quarter, netting 17 points behind the scoring of sophomores Madi Real and Danira Jones, who each scored 5 points in that quarter, and freshmen Maryah Collier and Cloey Chau, who each scored 3 points.
Active and efficient team defense held Brea to only 4 points, and the Griffins entered the half-time break up 21-10.
For the entire game, Chau led the scoring with 8 points, including two three-pointers. Jones, who was selected for the All-Tournament Team, chipped in 7 points with 5 rebounds and 6 steals. In addition to her 5 points, Real also grabbed 9 rebounds, and freshman point guard Mio Emi added 5 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The Griffins (3-3) qualified for the contest for third place by earlier defeating Sunny Hills 36-29 on Tuesday, November 26. In that game, Real led the scoring with 9 points on 3 three-pointers. Jones scored 6 points with 9 rebounds, and freshman center Issabella Toney also scored 6 points. Chau and sophomore guard Ashley Matsumoto each added 5 points, and junior forward Morgan Oropeza grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Griffins finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.
“This top-tier Gold Division provided very tough competition,” commented Coach Patrick Kennedy. “Playing top teams will better prepare us for league competition in January, and I’m happy for the girls that their hard work resulted in a final game victory and a trophy. They earned it.”
