Diamond Ranch Girls Basketball Falls to Alemany 46-34

MISSION HILLS – When Mike James looked at the division where his Diamond Ranch Panthers were going to be placed in at the beginning of the season, he thought to himself, “We are going to have to play Alemany.”

Saturday, that prediction came true as James’ Panthers fell to Alemany 46-34 in a CIF division 3AA semi-final matchup, where Diamond Ranch had a 24-19 lead going into halftime.

“I talked to Alemany’s coach (Bryan Camacho), and he thought the very same thing,” James explained.  “Except we thought it will be in the finals, not in the semis.”

Alemany used tough defense, with the help of some uncharacteristic errors from Diamond Ranch, to hold the Panthers to only 10 points in the second half, including a stretch of about five minutes where the panthers were held scoreless in the third and fourth quarters. Diamond Ranch got as close as 32-40, but would get no closer as Alemany would close the game out on a 6-2 run to seal the victory.

“During our pre-game talk we talked about not committing any turnovers,” James said.  “In the second half, I think our poor decision making and inability to rebound is what hurt us.”

It looked as if Diamond Ranch had something going as it took a quick 8-0 lead before Alemany was able to score its first points with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter.

Chelsea Barnes led all scorers with 16 points, 11 rebounds and two assists.  Tyvette White added six points and three rebounds while Sydney Caballeon pitched in four points for the Panthers.

Alemany however would not go away, as it would slowly claw back into the game in the later portion of the second quarter.

Trailing 19-8 in the second quarter, Alemany would go on a 10-1 run, culminating with Hannah Johnson’s basket to close the gap to 19-20 with 2:02 to go in the quarter. Barnes scored the final four points in the quarter to take a 24-19 lead into halftime.

Johnson finished with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal.  Adaora Obi added nine points, five rebounds and a blocked shot, while Clarissa Larios pitched in seven points, five rebounds and two steals for the Warriors.

Diamond Ranch now waits to see if it qualifies for a state tournament berth.

“Hopefully the selection committee can look at our overall body of work and give us a berth,” James said.

BOX SCORES

ALEMANY (46) – Hannah Johnson (10),  Adaora Obi (9),  Clarissa Larios (7),  Alex Moon (5), Leslie Lopez-Wood (5),  Mariah Winston (4),  Jenna Dhole (4), Jayda MacGregor (2)

DIAMOND RANCH (34) – Chelsea Barnes (16), Tyvette White (6), Sydney Caballeon (4),  Tai Lark (2), LaRandi Lowe (2), Cayla Freeman (2), Emilee Dy (2)