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Sports

Girls Hoops: Tigers Win OT Thriller

Pallares' seven points in overtime led South Pasadena past Blair.

The South Pasadena girls basketball team overcame an atrocious first-half shooting performance to beat Blair 58-57 in overtime on Wednesday. Victoria Pallares had just four points in regulation for the Tigers before exploding for seven points in overtime.

“Victoria knows she’s not our top scoring options, but she has confidence in herself,” South Pasadena coach Rich Kitagawa said. “She’s not afraid to take a big shot.”

Dejanae Gibson nearly led Blair to an upset over the second place Tigers with an incredible 21 points and 21 rebounds.

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“Dejanae and Sabrina (Martinez) can be dominant and they started out strong tonight,” Blair coach Antwine Adkins said. “But they have mental lapses where the offense slows down.”

The Tigers struggled mightily in the first half, making just 5 of 21 field goal attempts and just 6 of 18 free throws.

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“A lot of players have been sick with the flu and I think we just weren’t playing with full energy in the first half,” said Kitagawa.

Blair jumped ahead early when Gibson stole a pass and assisted on Martinez’s basket at the other end. Gibson gave the Tigers fits in the paint by making two hook shots and hitting 4 of 5 free throws. In the second quarter Gibson grabbed a rebound and made a long outlet pass to Rebecca Badillo who made a layup to give the Vikings a 20-12 lead — their largest of the game.

South Pasadena closed the gap to two points just before halftime when Kelsey Lee stole the ball from Martinez near midcourt and threw a pass to Kelsey Nakamura for a layup as the buzzer sounded.

“I told the team at halftime that I don’t care if they foul out, but they have to start rebounding,” Kitagawa said.

South Pasadena opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run. Lee, the team’s leading scorer, finally came alive after being shutout in the first half. She stole a pass and threw an assist to Amanda Paggao. Then Pallares stole a pass and made an assist to Lee. On the next play, Lee again stole the ball and raced down the court for a layup.

“Turnovers killed us,” Adkins said. “It was our problem, not anything they were doing. We have to take care of the ball.”

Martinez ended a nine-point run by the Tigers with a jump shot and then hit a 3-pointer on the team’s next possession to make the score 30-27.

The fourth quarter was played neck-and-neck and featured nine lead changes. Every time South Pasadena looked to open a sizeable lead, Gibson would make a play to tie the game.

The Tigers (14-7, 6-1 in the Rio Hondo League) led 40-38 with four minutes remaining when Gibson stole the ball from Nakamura and raced down the court for a game-tying layup.

Two minutes later Martinez made two free throws to tie the game at 43. Gibson forced a turnover on South Pasadena’s inbound pass and after a timeout Kayla Pound made a jump shot to give the Vikings (7-11, 3-4) their first lead since halftime.

Lee tied the game back up with a long drive to the basket, but both teams went cold in the final minute and regulation time ended with the game tied at 47.

Alex Kubela opened overtime with a 3-pointer for the Tigers, but Pallares took over after that. After a Viking layup Pallares took the inbound pass and dribbled the length of the court and made a running jump shot. On the team’s next possession Pallares attacked the basket and drew a foul, making both free throws. Then, with 30 seconds remaining in overtime, she hit a deep 3-pointer to open a 57-53 lead.

“Victoria hit the game-winner in our last game against San Marino,” said Kitagawa. “She’s playing great right now.”

Gibson’s 21 points were a game-high. Martinez scored 20 points while Nakamura led the Tigers with 12 points.

The victory secures a playoff birth for South Pasadena with three games left to play in the RHL. The Tigers host La Cañada on Friday, while Blair hosts Temple City.

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