Jordyn Lilly of Bishop Diego races down the court during Wednesday’s 5AA quarterfinal against Pasadena Poly.
Pasadena Poly’s quick, slick point guard and strong post player combined for 45 points to counterattack the 32-point performance by Bishop Diego’s Jordyn Lilly in Wednesday’s CIF 5AA girls basketball quarterfinals.
The Panthers opened up a 23-point lead in the third quarter, staved off a determined Bishop Diego squad in the fourth quarter and posted a 60-46 victory over the Cardinals at SBCC’s Sports Pavilion.
Kiki Yang scored 26 points, and her quickness was too much for Bishop to handle at both ends of the court. In the post, Kaitlyn Olan parlayed some good moves into easy baskets, and she was a force on the boards. Olan finished with 19 points, many of them coming on offensive rebounds.
“We knew going in that those were the players,” Bishop coach Jeff Burich said of Yang and Olan. “We tried to stop them but every now and then they got loose.”
The Cardinals fell behind early in the game and never could recover against a more-experienced Pasadena Poly team.
“In the first half, we had the same problem that has hurt us, the defensive rebounds,” Burich said. “We gave up too many second and third chances and they made us pay for those.”
A nice drive and dish from Yang to Alana Jackson started a 14-2 run for Pasadena Poly, which expanded its lead from 30-21 to 44-23. Yang buried a 3-pointer to make it a 49-26 Panther advantage.
To Bishop’s credit, it continued to play hard and, with the help of a press, pulled to within 12 (54-42) with 2:40 left in the game.
“I’m so proud of the way we played in the fourth quarter. It would have been easy for teams in the past to see a 20-point (deficit) in the third quarter and kind of go, ‘Oh, it’s done.’ But these kids, this is the way they were all year. They just kept battling back and working hard. That’s the leadership we have with Jordyn and Hannah (Rogers). I’m glad we have them coming back. They didn’t want to lose and they showed some pride.”
Bishop hurt itself with turnovers.
“I wish we can take some of our passes back,” Burich said. “I told the kids at halftime our offense has led to half of their points. We just weren’t disciplined enough; we weren’t confident with our passes.”
On several possessions, Lilly took the ball coast to coast to score her points.
Wednesday’s game came while the Bishop student’s are on a retreat from campus.
“It’s been a stressful week for them,“ Burich said. “I know it’s Jordyn’s birthday and she really wanted to play hard and the kids really wanted to play hard for her on her birthday. (The mistakes) might have been some nerves, it might have been some inexperience. Half these kids were JVs last year or not varsity starters.
“That’s a seasoned group,” he said of Pasadena Poly. “They go to the playoffs every year, they go to the second or third round. Three years ago they won CIF in this division. The coach has been there and the players have been around it, so they’re just a little more experienced than we were.”
That’ll be different next season as Bishop returns its two top scorers, Lilly and Rogers. They led the team to an 18-10 record.
