The Los Alamitos girls basketball team’s 12-game win streak and 2024 season came to an abrupt end on Saturday, Feb. 10, with a 42-54 road loss to No. 10 ranked Beckman in the second round of the CIF Southern Section 2A playoffs.
Ranked No. 7 in Division 2A, the Griffins (24-6) had advanced to the second round by defeating Pioneer 65-49 in the first round of playoffs on Thursday, February 8, at Los Alamitos.
In the Saturday loss to the home-team Patriots, the normally hot-shooting Griffins started ice cold as they missed every three-point shot taken in the first half and fell behind the Patriots 15-28. Beckman (20-8) expanded its lead to 19 points in the third quarter before the Griffins belatedly made a spirited comeback and outscored the Patriots 17-10 in the final frame.
Senior point guard and last season’s Surf League co-MVP Kayli Liew led the Griffins with 16 points. Senior guard Megan Lee scored 8 points to go along with 5 steals and 2 assists, and sophomores Tam Yoshida and Maya Asumbrado chipped in 7 points and 6 points respectively.
“It just wasn’t our night, but I’m very proud of how well the girls played all year,” said Coach Maya De Anda. “We had a very good season, winning a tournament championship and our second consecutive Surf League championship. We’ll miss our four graduating seniors a lot and it will be strange without them, but in a few weeks we’ll be back in the gym putting in the work for next season.”
In the earlier first-round victory over Pioneer (12-17), the Griffins hit 12 threes and had four players score in double figures, led by Asumbrado and Yoshida with 14 points each. Liew had 13 points and a whopping 8 assists to go along with 6 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. Lee scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Senior center Kassidy Beach had 12 rebounds, 5 points, and 2 blocked shots. Junior Bryn Pagett grabbed 9 rebounds to go along with 6 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
In January, The Griffins were undefeated and won the 2024 Surf League championship by sweeping league opponents Fountain Valley (16-13), Corona del Mar (13-15), and Edison (8-21) for a 6-0 league record. They also defeated the other four Sunset Conference teams (who play in the Wave League): Marina (21-9), Huntington Beach (17-12), Newport Harbor (9-18), and Laguna Beach (7-21), to finish 10-0 in conference and league play combined.
