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March 5, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
When Gahr High senior Christine Ho drained a three-pointer 36 seconds into the contest against Banning High, you knew this CIF Southern California Division IV first round game wasn’t going to be close. In fact, after Melony Bernabe scored the first points for the Pilots with 6:30 left in the first quarter, it was 5-2.
Then the Gladiators ran away, scoring the next 14 points, leading by as many as 31 points in the third quarter and advancing to the second round with a 57-34 victory this past Tuesday. Fifth-seeded Gahr (19-11) traveled to fourth-seeded Verdugo Hills (26-6) on Mar. 6. The Dons knocked off George Washington Prep 50-43 to win the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I championship before eliminating Leuzinger High 70-62 this past Tuesday.
“We knew that we were more athletic,” said Gahr head coach Alfred Howard. “So we were going to come out and try to exploit that early, and we were able to do it.”
Sophomore Ella Mims was making her presence known early, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds in the first eight minutes, four on the offensive end. Junior Chloe Beard had seven points in the stanza with a pair of assists and senior Simar Sogi’s three-pointer with 3:06 left made it 15-2.
Bernabe began the second quarter with her second basket but that was followed by an 11-0 run as Mims was perfect on four free throws while collecting another six rebounds before halftime. In fact, after hitting on three straight baskets, the Gladiators ended the final 4:17 of the half scoring nothing but free throws.
The second half took on a different look as Howard emptied his bench, and the tempo slowed down a bit to focus more on running plays as the competition from here on out won’t be as easy as Banning. The Pilots scored one more point in the third quarter than they had in the first half but were still down 45-17 going into the fourth quarter.
“What we do in games where we’re handily taking care of a team, we try to work on stuff we don’t get to work on in practice,” said Howard. “We only play seven girls’ we don’t have a real deep team. So we really don’t get a chance to compete and scrimmage in paly each other at a high level.
“We really didn’t worry about the score or what [Banning’s] deficit was,” he continued. “It was more of working on improving our stuff.”
Beard led everyone with 13 points while Ho and Mims each had a dozen points. Mims also grabbed 16 rebounds while sophomore Rachel Fredenburg pulled down 10 boards as the Gladiators had 40 rebounds. Gahr was also five of 24 from three-point land and scored on four offensive putbacks.
The last time Gahr was in action, it fell to El Toro High 36-34 on Feb. 22 in the CIF-SS Division 3A semifinals. The second opportunity to come away with a championship, albeit a state title, is always on the mind for semifinal losers in every division. Gahr would need to win three more regional games before playing the Northern California regional champion next Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“It feels good,” said Howard. “As a coach, you figure…this is my third year, we’ve been to state twice, we’ve been to two semifinals. Three years ago, the plan was to always be above .500 and make a playoff run. We’ve been able to exceed that in my three-year tenure. So, I’m very proud of that.”
La Mirada High saw its season end this past Tuesday as it dropped a 63-49 contest to Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High, the top-seeded team in Division IV. The Matadores (20-12) led by three points after the first quarter but were outscored 46-18 in the second and third quarters combined. Senior Jael Arreguin and sophomore Jordin Shaw each scored 11 points for the Matadores, who graduate nine players off a team of 10.
Also in the division, second-seeded Whitney High breezed past Pilibos High 74-32 as sophomore Alyssa So scored 39 points. The Wildcats (24-9) were home on Mar. 6 to Chatsworth High, which defeated George Washington Prep 81-60 this past Tuesday in a rematch of the City Section Division 1 semifinals in which the Chancellors (13-15) lost 65-64.
In Division III action, Cerritos High fell to Christian High 67-58 this past Tuesday to conclude the season at 17-17. The Dons led 35-23 at the half but the third quarter spelled doom for the third place team from the 605 League. The Patriots outscored Cerritos 20-8 in the third quarter and held off a fourth quarter rally.
Junior Cameron Lacorte led the black and gold with 18 points while senior Ambar Multani and sophomore Mady Macaraeg each poured in 13 points.
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