Los Alamitos tops Marina, earns share of Sunset League girls’ basketball title

Junior guard Tamlyn Yoshida scored 24 points to lead Los Alamitos to a 56-35 win at Marina on Friday night, as the Griffins secured at least a share of the Sunset League girls’ basketball championship.

Coming off just its second loss in its past 15 games, Los Alamitos (19-7, 9-2 in the Sunset League) successfully navigated some early foul trouble to become the first to claim a stake of the title. If the Griffins come away with a win at Fountain Valley in the season finale on Monday, they would win the league outright.

Fountain Valley (16-8, 8-3) would share the league championship with a win, and if that happens, it would open the door for Corona del Mar (16-10, 8-3) to join them in a three-way tie at the top.

Yoshida picked up two fouls in the first 94 seconds of the contest. When she returned, she unleashed a scoring flurry in a 14-point second quarter that helped the Griffins to a 32-18 advantage at halftime.

“Tam Yoshida is definitely a leader for us,” Los Alamitos coach Maya DeAnda said. “She comes out here and takes care of business, plays like a vet, and she’s only a junior, so we’re really happy to have her, but such a team win overall.”

Senior forward Bryn Pagett added 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Los Alamitos, and junior guard Maya Asumbrado chipped in with eight points, five steals and three assists.

Marina (16-11, 7-4) got a boost at the start with a nine-point first quarter from senior guard Maria Tejeda.

Junior guard Rylee Bradley contributed nine points, five rebounds and two assists. Senior center Sydnie Smith also had six points, four rebounds and a blocked shot for the Vikings.

“I just know these kids are not going to quit,” said Marina coach Daniel Roussel, whose team had a six-game winning streak snapped. “I absolutely know they’re not going to quit. They have heart. We’ve worked all season to try to get to this point.

“When we started 3-3 in league, we and everybody else thought we had no chance at this league championship, and here we were tonight with a shot at it, so just really a credit to the girls and the way they’re playing.”

Sunset League

Los Alamitos 56, Marina 35

Los Alamitos 10 - 22 - 10 - 14 — 56

Marina 12 - 6 - 13 - 4 — 35

LA — Ta. Yoshida 24, Pagett 10, M. Asumbrado 8, Heng 7, Kyriakos 3, Ramirez 2, To. Yoshida 2.

3-pt. goals — Ta. Yoshida 4, M. Asumbrado 2, Heng 1, Kyriakos 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.

M — Tejeda 10, Bradley 9, Smith 6, H. Nguyen 5, S. Nguyen 3, Vu 2.

3-pt. goals — Tejeda 2, S. Nguyen 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.