(El Monte) – Arcadia’s dreams of dethroning Bishop Amat in the Lady Knights Classic quickly turned to a nightmare as the Lancers brushed aside a 6-0 deficit to advance to the tournament final for the fifth straight year on Friday evening with a 50-33 win.
Leeah Powell set the tone offensively by driving to the basket and playing physically against the 6’2 Michelle Lai and on defense by shutting down the Apaches center after she scored six points in the first quarter. Powell finished the night with a game-high 13 points.
“All night long, Leeah did good things for us,” Bishop Amat head coach Richard Waird said.
“Offensively, she made a three-pointer early and drove the lane when she needed to. Defensively, she locked down Michelle Lai and played physical.”
Melody Chang’s two jumpers and Julissa Aguirre’s lay-up cut a 10-point Bishop Amat lead to four before Richard Wiard called a time out.
Out of the time out, Dagmar Ramirez made a great quick first-step move to get past the Arcadia defense and stop the Arcadia 6-0 run.
That began a 15-3 run for the Lancers that essentially put the game away.
Powell and Ramirez were instrumental in the run as they scored eight of the 15 points during the run.
“We were too dependent on Melody Chang,” Apaches Head Coach Don Young said. “We need to pass with confidence and get other involved to beat good teams like Bishop Amat.”
Chang closed the night out leading the Apaches with 11 points.
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