(La Canada) – Despite shooting just 29% from the field, La Canada was able to slip past Corona Del Mar in the first round of the Division 4AA playoffs, 43-33 in a rematch of last year’s opening round game.
“We couldn’t get anything going in the paint,” said Lady Spartans head coach Tamar Hill. “Corona Del Mar did a very good job of collapsing and making difficult for our shooters.”
Senior point-guard Tia Chen scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half to help lead La Canada (24-3) to a 14-point lead at the break.
It would be a lead that never was threatened the remainder of the game as the Sea Queens (14-13) shot just as poorly from the field going 13 of 41 and had long stretches throughout the game without a field goal.
Both teams never seemed to get into sync offensively as they struggled with a lack of consistent officiating that seemed to frustrate all the players involved as well as Coach Hill and Sea Queens head coach Mark Decker.
“We weren’t able to get into our flow,” said Hill. “I think it was because we didn’t get anything in the paint and it didn’t allow us to play our game.”
Corona Del Mar’s Carolina Van Der Velde led all scorers with 18 points and scored the team first seven points to keep the Sea Queens in the ball game after one quarter.
The Lady Spartans were able to impose their tough defense in the second half as they caused many turnovers and hit key shots during a 16-5 run. Chen buried two three-pointers during the second quarter and Kim Johnson hit two clutch shots from the free-three stripe to help extend the Lady Spartan lead to 12 before the second quarter ended.
The start of the second half saw Corona Del Mar come to life as a suffocating defense saw La Canada shoot just 25% from the field and made key turnovers on back-to-back possessions that saw Korlay Wilson score seven unanswered points to get the Sea Queens to within seven.
It would be the closest Corona Del Mar would get the remainder of the way as Lady Spartans shooting-guard Jessica Yamamoto buried a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 12 late in the fourth quarter.
La Canada must now await the luck of the coin-flip to decide whether they travel 209 miles north to Atascadero or get to wait for the Greyhounds to bus into the friendly confines of the Sports Palace on the campus of La Canada.
CORONA DEL MAR 7 5 13 8 33
LA CANADA 10 16 8 9 43
SCORING:
CORONA DEL MAR: Carolina Van Der Velde 18, Korlay Wilson 8, Katie Bergsma 5, Gaby Rapp 2
LA CANADA: Tia Chen 16, Kim Johnson 6, Jessica Yamamoto 5, Maggie Kolina 4, Courtney McCutchan 4, Kristene Hossepian 4, Grace O’Hara 2
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