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Cerritos High senior Ambar Multani goes up for a shot in the third quarter as Elizabeth Ma of Mark Keppel High tries to block it in last Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA Championship game at the Toyota Arena. Cerritos fell to the Aztecs 49-39, the third divisional championship loss in the last four seasons for the program. PHOTO BY FUMA TAKAHASHI.
March 4, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
ONTARIO-Cerritos High had one fewer field goal than Mark Keppel High and one fewer three-pointer but seven fewer free throws in last Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA championship game. But what stood out the most is 15-1.
That was the score to begin the game at the Toyota Arena and despite getting to within three points early in the fourth quarter, Cerritos ran out of steam in a 49-39 defeat to Mark Keppel. This was the third divisional championship setback for the Dons in the last four seasons.
“Throughout this whole game, we were down, and our girls fought back into it,” said Cerritos head coach Marcus Chinen. “At one point, we thought that maybe if we could get over that little hump, we would have a chance. But playing catch up the whole game…it’s tiring. It’s very tiring for these girls.”
Mark Keppel led 21-10 after the first quarter as the Dons (17-16) connected on just two shots in 13 attempts, six coming from three-point territory. They were still down by 11 at the half before staging a mini comeback in the third quarter. Junior Cameron Lacorte drained a three-pointer with 5:45 left in the stanza to make it 33-25 and with less than a minute to play in the quarter, senior Ambar Multani converted a three-point play to bring the Dons to within six points for the second time in the quarter.
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Cerritos High senior Reese Rhinehart battles with Mark Keppel’s Lucy Jiang for control of the ball in last Friday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA championship game, won my Mark Keppel 49-39. PHOTO BY FUMA TAKAHASHI.
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The momentum carried into the fourth quarter as Lacorte scored 36 seconds in, and after the second rebound of the quarter from sophomore Kalana Nguyen, her free throw with 6:35 left in the game made it 36-33, the closest Cerritos would get the remainder of the way. Seconds later, Alyssa Canizal hit her only trifecta, beginning a 7-3 run for Mark Keppel that would last for nearly five and a half minutes.
The only points for Cerritos in that time was a Lacorte three-pointer with 3:53 left in the game, making it 41-36. That would mark the last basket the third place representative from the 605 League would make until junior Mady Macaraeg closed the game’s scoring with 6.8 seconds left. In between, the Dons missed seven straight shots, the first four coming from beyond the arc.
“It is frustrating to not have a shot go down,” said Lacorte. “But I knew I had to take the open look. I may not have been super open, but I took the shots just to try to get us back on our feet or get that momentum shift. Although it is frustrating for it not to go in, I didn’t let it get to me because I knew that would really destroy us. If you let that get to you, then you’ve already lost it from there.”
“After halftime, I think for me, it was just do or die at that point,” said Multani. “But as long as my team tried their hardest, and we did, I was just proud of them.”
The 39 points were the fewest since a 51-31 loss to Whitney High on Jan. 22 and the eighth time this season the Dons were held under 40 points. While the Aztecs had three players score at least 11 points, Lacorte led Cerritos with 13 points, had five assists, five rebounds and five steals. Multani led the team with 10 rebounds, scored nine points and had a pair of blocks and sophomore Jordin Pulley pitched in with eight rebounds and six points.
After winning the first two games of the season, Cerritos would lose 14 of the next 17 games before entering last Friday winners of 12 of 14 contests.
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Cerritos High girls basketball head coach Marcus Chinen holds up the finalist plaque with junior Cameron Lacorte (far left), senior Ambar Multani and sophomore Jordin Pulley looking on after last Friday’s 49-39 loss to Mark Keppel High in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA title game. PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF.
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“All in all, these girls played their hearts out,” said Chinen. “Not bad for a team that entered the playoffs under .500. It tells you a lot about the character of the players and their will to come out here and play hard. Again, I’m proud of them and we still have state games.”
“We all tried our hardest, so I have no regrets coming out of this game,” said Lacorte. “I’m really proud of my teammates.”
The Dons were seeded ninth in the CIF Southern California Division III regionals and will visit Christian High on Tuesday. The Patriots, out of El Cajon in the East County area of San Diego, are 24-4 and are riding an 18-game winning streak. The winner will face top-seeded Palisades High or El Toro High on Thursday.
One of the strengths of the Dons this season has been the depth of the team. All 14 players have started at least a game and because of injuries, illness, vacations and eligibility issues, Chinen wasn’t able to use is current starting lineup until the second half of league play.
“I’m just really proud of everybody and I know the starting lineup has always been mixed up,” said Pulley. “But our team has always fought, and they’ve always tried hard.”
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