CIF-SS DIV. 3A GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS – Gahr’s height advantage too much for Yeshiva University of Los Angeles in blowout

February 17, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

After the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3A girls basketball playoffs, Gahr High has already received a vote of confidence from at least one coach. Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA) head coach Gil Dalva says the Gladiators are his favorites to win the division, and handily if they play the way they played last Thursday.

Dalva and his Panthers team got a firsthand look, and the results were overwhelming as Gahr turned a close game after the first quarter into a rout by yielding eight points in the second and third quarters combined as it blitzed YULA 56-25. Gahr then eliminated Shalhevet High 44-39 last Saturday to set up a date with top-seeded Lawndale High in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Gahr had everything going in the first half and used its height and outside shooting to take the Panthers out of the game early. The Gladiators (17-10) grabbed 10 rebounds in the opening quarter and eight more in the second quarter while shooting four of six from beyond the arc in the second quarter. All four came after the hosts had a 17-9 lead and the blowout started with the second perimeter basket from senior Simar Sogi, then senior Christine Ho, off a pass from sophomore Ella Mims. Within a span of 34 seconds, junior Chloe Beard went downtown shopping before Ho ended the first half scoring with her third of the game with 2:08 left in the half. By now, it was apparent that a 29-12 halftime lead was going to be hard for YULA to rally back from.

“We definitely had a size advantage, and we talked that at halftime,” said Howard. “[Assistant head coach Ricky] Roper is about the offense; I’m about the defense and I just didn’t like the effort in the first half. At halftime, we were talking about running this play and this play, and I just grabbed the clipboard and said, ‘forget that’. What’s going to win playoff basketball has got to be defense.”

“I think that they just have a lot of weapons all around,” said Dalva. “So, you can’t really strategize and say we’re going to clog up the middle because they have so many outside shooters. And you can’t really be aggressive on the outside shooters because then you leave a gaping hole for their bigs. [Gahr] is a really tough team to plan for, and even a tougher team to play.”

Gahr kept the pressure on in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points before Kira Heumann ended her team’s scoring drought. Another 8-0 run, capped by a steal and basket from Beard, ended when Lilla Anziska scored, making it 45-17 entering the final stanza. And when the game had concluded, Gahr’s height was the main factor in a 47-29 advantage on the boards with 11 players grabbing at least one rebound. Sophomore Rachel Fredenburg led the way with 11 rebounds and was one of three players to score nine points. Eventually, Gahr shot seven three-pointers in 23 attempts while YULA was four of 20 in trifectas. Dalva said that was one of the keys when looking at the film on Gahr.

“Make them drive; no shots, and then keep a body on [Mims] the entire time, which we tried to do,” said Dalva. “They got enough shots; they got enough free looks at the basket and they got enough second chance opportunities to take advantage of us.”

Mims, who stands at 6’1” led all players with 15 points and nine rebounds while Beard added nine points, five rebounds and three steals. Ho also scored nine points and Sogi chipped in with eight points. All five starters, including 5’7” senior Jody Colbert who pulled down six boards, and Sogi, the top bench player, also had at least one assist. The Gladiators has 11 assists of the 23 field goals made with four putbacks and two more baskets scored directly off steals.

“I think that’s what we’ve been talking about this whole year,” said Howard. “In league play, that was the difference; an extra pass here, or one more there. We lost to Paramount by four, but like coach Roper always says, it’s about the one move, it’s about the next pass. A lot of times, our players get that one pass, and they shoot it. We tell them, no. if you have a good shot, pass it up for a great shot.”

A Gahr win over Lawndale will put the Gladiators in Saturday’s semifinals against either El Toro High or Ramona High.