The Los Alamitos girls basketball team opened the season last week by winning third place with a 3-1 record in the Corona Del Mar Tip-Off Tournament, relying on its depth and the Asumbrado sisters, senior Maya and sophomore Sydney, who were named to the All-Tournament team.
Over the four games, Sydney Asumbrado led the scoring with a 10-points-per-game average followed closely by Maya Asumbrado who averaged 9.8 points per game. Over the Thanksgiving week tourney, Maya hit 9 threes and Sydney drained 7 threes.
The Griffins defeated West Covina 62-22, Cerritos 58-48, and Red Mountain 56-21. The Griffins’ only blemish was a lopsided 28-58 loss to Saint Joseph, who later defeated Rosary 48-46 in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 29.
In the Griffin’s victory over Red Mountain (2-2) to win third place on Nov. 29, Maya Asumbrado led the scoring with 11 points, including 3 three-pointers and 3 steals. Sophomore guard Maile Heng added 10 points, including 2 threes, to go along with 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 rebounds. Freshman post Amber Cosio chipped in 9 points and 7 rebounds, and Sydney Asumbrado contributed 8 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
In the November 24, season-opening win over West Covina (4-3), Sydney Asumbrado scored a career-high 23 points, including 5 threes, and had 4 steals. Maya Asumbrado had 13 points, including 3 threes, and added 6 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 assists. Sophomore Torri Yoshida chipped in 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
In the Griffins hard-fought Nov. 25 victory over Cerritos (2-3), in which the teams were separated by only 1 point at the half and beginning of the fourth quarter, Cosio led the way with 19 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Torri Yoshida with 9 points and 5 rebounds, and Maya Asumbrado with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
In their 30-point loss to highly rated St. Joseph (5-1) on November 26, the Griffins, playing their third game in three days, suffered a disastrous first quarter, falling behind by 20-1, before regrouping in the final three quarters, losing those by a more competitive combined score of 38-27.
The Griffins played the entire tournament without star guard Tam Yoshida, last season’s leading scorer and Sunset League co-MVP, who is recovering from a sprained ankle and is expected to play in mid-December.
“This was a good tournament for us,” said Head Coach Maya De Anda. “The teams were competitive and we had to bring our best effort to compete without Tam. Except for us getting overwhelmed in the first quarter of the St. Joseph game, we were competitive and fairly sharp the entire week.”
The Griffins next game is Monday, Dec. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at Fountain Valley High School versus Heritage Christian (2-0).
