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In a gritty come-from-behind tournament championship win last week, the Los Alamitos girls basketball team scored 6 clutch points in the final minute of the fourth quarter to force overtime and defeat highly ranked El Dorado, 36-35.
The Griffins (10-5) reached the December 28 championship game of the Sunny Hills Winter Classic by earlier upsetting higher-rated Lakewood, 57-49, and blitzing Desert Christian Academy, 81-35.
Against El Dorado (9-6), Los Alamitos scored first to lead 2-0 but didn’t lead again until junior guard Tam Yoshida was fouled driving to the basket with only 9 seconds left in overtime and hit one of two free throws to win the game. It was the only point scored in the extra four-minute frame.
Late in the fourth quarter, El Dorado had opened up a 35-29 lead on a corner three with only 63 seconds left, and overtime seemed unlikely, but freshman guard Maile Heng answered with a three from the left wing to revive the Griffins’ hopes with 46 seconds still on the clock.
The energized Griffins quickly forced a back-court turnover. After a time out, Los Alamitos missed a shot, but senior center Bryn Pagett grabbed the offensive rebound. Then with 18 seconds remaining, Yoshida drained the game-tying three from the left wing to force overtime. Junior guard Maya Asumbrado assisted on both final-minute threes with quick passes from just beyond the top of the circle.
Tam Yoshida, who was named tournament MVP, scored 12 points with 3 steals. Heng chipped in 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, and Asumbrado added 7 points, 4 steals and 3 assists. Pagett grabbed a whopping 18 rebounds with 4 steals, freshman forward Torri Yoshida added 7 rebounds and 6 steals, and senior guard Ava Duarte had 4 steals and 4 points.
Both teams played aggressive defense, with the taller El Dorado blocking numerous Los Alamitos’ shots and the quicker Griffins’ full-court pressure causing numerous El Dorado turnovers.
At game time, the Orange County Register newspaper had ranked El Dorado No. 9 in Orange County and had ranked Los Alamitos No. 16.
“Even though we were behind most of the night, the girls never gave up,” said Coach Maya De Anda. “They showed great grit, teamwork, and intensity.”
In the semi-final victory a day earlier over Desert Christian Academy (8-8), the Griffins hit an astounding 18 three-pointers, including 4 each by Tam Yoshida and Maya Asumbrado, three by Duarte, two each by junior wing Lexi Kyriakos and freshman guard Sydney Asumbrado, and one each by junior guard Madison Norberg, Heng, and Torri Yoshida.
Tam Yoshida led the scoring with 17 points, and senior forward Mikayla Aguayo grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Griffins open Sunset League play on January 3 at Edison at 5:30 p.m.