Tiana Stovall (#12) leads the Lady Lions into action Thursday night
(El Monte)- The El Monte Lady Lions kept it close trailing by only four at the end of one and just seven at halftime, before falling to visiting Irvine 46-22 on Thursday night in the first round of the CIF playoffs.
Tiana Stovall’s basket at the start of the third closed what had been a 13-point Lady Vaquero lead down to five at 22-17 but the Mission Valley League representatives couldn’t get any closer.
Irvine bruisers Kristan Liddle and Jessica Thawley, were sound, accurate, and seemingly everywhere on the court as they helped their team to nine consecutive points to build the lead to 14, 31-17.
Liddle, 19-points, and Thawley, 14, also kept Lady Lion center Sandra Gutierrez boxed in for much of the contest. Gutierrez scored her team’s first eight points of the game but found the going difficult thereafter in a sea of hands, arms, and bodies.
Points came at a premium for Brian Tabatabai’s bunch. Stovall finished with 7-points, Connie To (a promising sophomore) had four, Jennifer Munoz 2, and Amanda Duenas 1.
The victory pushed Irvine, now 19-8, into the second round. For El Monte the season closed at 11-13.
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