MidValleySports.Com

Jackie Pacheco drives to the basket. (Photo by AC)

(Pasadena) – The magical run by La Salle came to an end on Wednesday night with a tough loss against defending State Champion runner-up St. Anthony’s, 49-35.

After being held to just six points in the first half, highly touted junior Kendall Cooper exploded for 13 points in the second half as the Saints pulled away to the victory.

The Lancers traded point for point in the first half as the teams went into the break tied at 19.

After the break the story changed with St. Anthony’s established the inside presence with Cooper at the beginning of the third quarter. Cooper out rebounded the undersized La Salle front-court to give the Saints second chance opportunities.

St. Anthony’s started the second half with a 9-2 run, thanks in part to Raquel Johnson who stole the ball from Itos Aikhionbare and went the distance to give the Saints a 25-19 lead.

It also didn’t help La Salle they went five minutes without a field goal after being able to keep up with St. Anthony’s in the first half. Aikhionbare ended the drought with a bucket.

Unlike its previous game, the Lancers were unable to hit any three-pointers in the game which couldn’t help them get back in the game once they fell behind by more than three buckets.

Cooper continued her dominance during the fourth quarter by scoring the Saints first seven points in the stanza. Cooper finished with a team-high 19 points.

Aikhionbare tried to keep La Salle in the game by scoring nine of the 10 points the Lancers scored in the quarter. She closed the evening with a game-high 20 points in a losing effort.

Aikhionbare led all players with 20 points. (Photo by AC)