Kinyada Johnson had 26 pts, 6 rebs, 10 asts and 3 steals to lead Pasadena (33-4) to its first-ever women's championship Saturday, garnering MVP honors in PCC's 74-64 win over San Joaquin Delta at Selland Arena in Fresno.
A day after knocking off #1-ranked and previously-unbeaten Ventura, Pasadena led wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first 2:27 and never surrendering that lead. But Pasadena never led by more than 10 points at any time in the game, and Delta closed the margin to a single point twice and trailed by just 3 late in the game before Pasadena finally pulled away for good.
Pasadena built its first 10-point lead at 20-10 with 10:23 left in the first half. But Delta rallied, cutting the margin to 5 at 21-16. Then Pasadena pushed the margin back to 10 at 29-19 with 6:14 left. But Delta again rallied, cutting the Pasadena lead to just 6 at the half, 43-37.
Early in the second half, Delta got within a point at 45-44 after a basket by Natalie Montes just less than four minutes into the half. But then Pasadena scored the game's next 9 points, pushing the lead back to 10 at 54-44 after a steal & basket by Kim Smith. Then Delta answered with a 9-0 run of its own, again cutting the margin to a single point at 54-53 after a coast-to-coast lay-up by Vintea Georges with 9:20 left.
But Pasadena never surrendered the lead. A basket by Easter Faafiti made it 56-53. She was also fouled on the play, but missed the free throw. Teammate Allegra Kohley grabbed the rebound, scored on the putback, drew a foul and converted the free throw for a quick 5-point turnaround that made it 59-53.
Delta stayed close, and still trailed by just 3 points at 64-61 before Pasadena pulled away for good. A free throw by Johnson and a 3-pointer by Melia Basavand made it 68-61, and a putback basket by Easter Faafiti made it 70-61.
A bank-shot 3-pointer by Montes brought Delta back within 6 points at 70-64 with just less than a minute remaining, but Johnson made two free throws with 53.9 seconds left and one more with 37.9 seconds left to make it 73-64. A free throw by Smith with 21 seconds left made it a 10-point game once more, and this time there was no time for Delta to rally.
In addition to Johnson, the top scorers for Pasadena were Easter Faafiti (17 pts, 12 rebs) and Kohley (11 pts, 12 rebs), both of whom posted double-doubles. Easter Faafiti was named to the all-tournament team, as was Basavand, who had just 6 pts in the final but had 25 pts including 8 threes vs. Ventura in the semifinal.
For Delta, Jessica De La Cruz had 23 pts, but they all came on the first half as the grind of the third game in three days took its toll and she was 0-for-9 in the second half. Lanaija Ernest had a very solid game for Delta with 11 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts and just one turnover. Montes added 9 pts and joined De La Cruz on the all-tournament team.
Box Score:
Sunday, March 15, 2009 - 3:30 pm
at Selland Arena, Fresno
State Championship - Women
Pasadena 74:
1-Kim Smith, SF - 2/8 fg, 1/5 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
10-Melia Basavand, SG - 2/14 fg, 7 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
12-Kinyada Johnson, PG - 8/15 fg, 6/10 ft, 6 reb, 10 ast, 3 stl, 26 pts
32-Easter Faafiti, C - 7/10 fg, 3/8 ft, 12 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
34-Allegra Kohley, PF - 5/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 12 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
25-Melissa Fudge, G - 3/3 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
23-Chrishawn Frierson, F - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
42-Cherisa Sellers, C - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 3 pf, 2 pts
33-Raven Faafiti, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 28/59 fg (.475), 12/25 ft (.480), 47 reb, 18 ast, 1 blk, 8 stl, 16 pf, 74 pts
3-pt fg (6): Johnson 4, Basavand 2
Turnovers (19): Smith 5, E.Faafiti 5, Johnson 4, Basavand 2, Fudge 2, Kohley
San Joaquin Delta 64:
3-Lanaija Ernest, PG - 4/9 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 5 ast, 3 pf, 11 pts
11-Natalie Montes, PF - 4/14 fg, 2 reb, 3 stl, 3 pf, 9 pts
32-Vintea Georges, SG - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
33-Jessica De La Cruz, SF - 8/22 fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 23 pts
45-Keisha Leggs, C - 2/7 fg, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
10-Ashante Reed, F - 1/4 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
12-Patrice Hunter, G - 1/3 fg, 1 pf, 3 pts
25-Sylvonya Moore, G - 1/2 fg, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 2 pts
13-Wendie Canez, G - 1/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
21-Lauran Johnson, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
34-Alex Ballard, C - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 25/71 fg (.352), 5/6 ft (.833), 37 reb, 13 ast, 3 blk, 10 stl, 22 pf, 64 pts
3-pt fg (9): De La Cruz 5, Ernest, Montes, Reid, Hunter
Turnovers (14): Georges 3, Montes 2, Leggs 2, Reid 2, Moore 2, Ernest, Hunter, Canez
Halftime Score: Pasadena 43, Delta 37
Updated Records: Pasadena 33-4, Delta 31-7
Pasadena began the game on a 9-0 run and led all the way. Delta closed to within a point twice and trailed by just 3 at 64-61 but could never quite catch up. This is Pasadena's first-ever (women's) championship. All-Tournament Team:
Kinyada Johnson, Pasadena (MVP)
Melia Basavand, Pasadena
Eater Faafiti, Pasadena
Jessica De La Cruz, Delta
Natalie Montes, Delta
Erika Ward, Ventura
Jazmin Holmes, San Francisco
