La Salle girls basketball downs Calabasas to advance to CIF-SS semifinals – LA Daily News

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CALABASAS — What started as a tight girls basketball contest between La Salle and Calabasas in the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA quarterfinals, gradually became a blowout when the final whistle blew, as the Lancers defeated the Coyotes 66-45 to advance to the semifinals.

Going into the second quarter tied 16-16, the Lancers started to open things up by breaking the Coyotes’ smothering press, leading to uncontested layups and wide open looks from beyond the arc.

Four Lancers ended with double digits in points and two players, Ryann Riddle and Ellie Chen, finished with double-doubles. Riddle logged 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, while Chen added 14 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

“They’re special players. That’s what makes our team I think hard to guard,” La Salle head coach Scott Wiard said. “All of them can do a little bit of everything and defensively they get down and grind. I thought we did a great job of moving the ball.”

Calabasas was coming off an emotional victory Wednesday night, defeating Cypress in the second round of the playoffs on a buzzer beater by freshman Jocelynn Townsend.

Calabasas head coach Jena Laolagi said that win was draining, and the players weren’t their usual high-energy selves Saturday.

“I will say we looked tired today,” she said. “I think that emotional win on Wednesday really took a lot out of us so that definitely played into effect. We will all take a little bit of a breather and get right to it.”

The Lancers built on their nine-point halftime lead in the third quarter as Kaden Cortes, Reese Wong and Chen started to heat up.

Cortes logged eight points, four rebounds and two assists, and Wong added 11 points, three rebounds and three assists, going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Reese Wong gets to the bucket to give the Lancers a 43-31 lead with 1:26 left in the third quarter @Tarek_Fattal pic.twitter.com/Yd9n2GvTgA

— Dan Lovi (@LoviSports) February 20, 2022

As a team, the Lancers made 13-of-15 free throws, while the Coyotes made just 4-of-10.

“Everyone knows how to work together, we’re super close and we know each other well,” said Audrey Chen, who finished with 15 points, five assists and three steals. “For example, when they box-and-one me everyone else is able to do something. Ellie was able to shoot and Kaden was able to shoot too and we made our threes and that’s where we got our momentum.”

The Coyotes tried to claw their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, bringing the score within single digits, but a series of made shots from the Lancers quickly dispelled any hopes of a comeback.

Sophomores Amia Witt and Maddy Tauro led the way for Calabasas. Witt finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Tauro added 14 points, two steals and two blocks.

“Just use this as an example. They are a disciplined team, a good-shooting team and that’s where we want to be,” Laolagi said. “The future is bright. It’s always disappointing to end the season on a loss but the work starts now.”

La Salle will face Hart, who defeated Summit on Saturday, in the Division 3AA semifinals.