Girls Hoops: St. Anthony's Out-Muscles South Pasadena

There were tears in Kelsey Lee’s eyes as she walked off the court and into the embrace of South Pasadena coach Rich Kitigawa. Lee’s career at South Pasadena and the Tigers girls basketball team’s season both ended Saturday night with a 66-45 loss to the second-seeded St. Anthony Saints in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4A playoffs.

She fouled out of the game with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter, and sat down having amassed a career total 996 points.

“She’s our leader,” Kitigawa said. “She’s done everything for us.”

Throughout the season the No. 15 Tigers overcome their small size all year with aggressive play, sharp passing, and full court defensive pressure. But St. Anthony brought to the game a pair of sisters with size and talent that South Pasadena (17-9) had no hope of matching.

Six-foot-3 sophomore Kendall Cooper is already being scouted by top Division I colleges.

“Connecticut has called,” said Saints coach James Anderson. “Tennessee has been to our gym, Duke comes all the time. … USC and UCLA are always there.”

Kendall’s 6-foot older sister Jourdan Cooper will play at UC Riverside next season.

“We’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Lee. “Two really big girls. … It made it difficult to adjust.”

South Pasadena’s tenacity on defense kept the Tigers close early on. The Saints were thrown off by the Tiger’s full court press, but almost never failed to find success after passing the half court line. Lob passes from Saint guards to Jourdan Cooper down low made for easy baskets.

On offense, guards Lee and Kelsey Nakamura used their speed to drive around the Saint’s man-to-man D only to find Kendall Cooper waiting at the front of the basket to block their shots. With Lee easily giving up 12 inches to Cooper, it is no wonder that the majority of her team-high 15 points came from free throws.

South Pasadena was able to keep the game close through two quarters, ending the first half behind only 26-21.

“We had one choice — to fight,” Kitigawa said. “We couldn’t run away from them. We said to be physical and aggressive and see what happens.”

But the second half saw St. Anthony (16-9) move further ahead. The Saints used their physicality down low to grab numerous offensive rebounds which led to second chance shots, and many Tiger fouls led to Saint free throws. By the end of the third quarter, the five-point deficit had become 13.

“There was a sense of helplessness,” Lee said. “We were doing everything we could and nothing was going our way.”

The fourth quarter saw the Tigers fall back further. Kendall Cooper’s scoring, rebounding and blocked shots could not be overcome.

“Their size just killed us tonight,” Kitigawa said. “But the team gave everything they had. They fought every second of the game. We can walk out with our heads up high.”