By Miguel A. Melendez
Staff Writer
LA CAADA FLINTRIDGE — Fans of the visiting Corona del Mar High School girls basketball team held signs with encouraging phrases through the first quarter.
By the time the second quarter came around, the signs were barely useful to fan themselves some air.
What seemingly looked like a competitive first-round game quickly turned into a La Caada clinic, as the Spartans ran past Corona del mar, 57-31, on Thursday night in the CIF-Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs.
La Caada will play the Whittier Christian-El Monte winner in Saturday’s second-round game.
The Spartans (21-4) did a superb job of suffocating the Sea Kings (18-10) with a swarming defense, and it didn’t help that Corona del Mar went on a woeful 1 for 14 shooting in the second quarter either.
That’s when La Caada blew the lid open and finished the quarter on a 12-1 run.
The back door passes were there all night for the Spartans, and the Sea Kings didn’t seem to want to adjust.
Tia Chen arguably had one of her best performances for the Spartans, nearly recording a quadruple-double. She scored 14 points, had 10 steals, grabbed nine rebounds and dished eight assists.
Teammate Courtney McCutchan was not that far off from a triple-double, scoring seven points, grabbing seven rebounds and five assists.
“Tia did a great job in the first half and distributed the ball well,” La Caada coach Tamar Hill said.
There were, however, some moments when the Spartans didn’t exactly look like a top tier team.
La Caada turned the ball over three consecutive times with under five minutes left in the second quarter.
Fortunately for the Spartans, Corona del Mar did not capitalize.
“At that point it looked like neither team wanted the ball,” Hill said. “Both teams were tired and worn out but we gathered ourselves.”
So what does La Caada take from this blowout?
“We need to make sure that we’re making good decisions especially when we’re getting tired,” Hill said. “Hopefully we can get rid of the sloppiness so we’re prepared against better teams.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL SCORES
DIVISION I-A
J.W. North (Big VIII 4) at Alhambra (Almont 2)
DIVISION II-A
Westlake (Marmonte at-large) at Keppel (Almont 1)
DIVISION III-A
Charter Oak (Miramonte at-large) at Rosemead (Mission Valley 1)
DIVISION IV-AA
South Pasadena (Rio Hondo 3) at Citrus Hill (Mountain Pass 3)
La Caada 57, Corona del Mar 31
DIVISION IV-A
Flintridge Sacred Heart (Mission at-large) at 29 Palms (De Anza 1)
Maranatha (Alpha at large) at Notre Dame Academy (Sunshine 2)
Duarte (Montview 4) at Harvard-Westlake (Mission 2)
San Marino (Rio Hondo at-large) at Rosamond (High Desert 1)
Blair (Rio Hondo at large) at Workman (Montview 2)
DIVISION V-AA
Flintridge Prep (Prep 3) at Woodcrest Christian (Big Sky 2)
Westridge (Prep 4) at Fairmont Prep (San Joaquin 2)
Western Christian (Christian 3) at La Salle (Camino Real 1)
Marshall (Delphic 3) at Calvary Murrieta (Big Sky 1)
DIVISION V-A
Animo Leadership (Harbor 3) at Pasadena Poly (Prep 2)
DIVISION VI-AA
Rio Hondo Prep (Prep at-large) at San Fernando Valley Academy (Omega 1)
CLICK THREAD FOR GIRLS SOCCER AND GIRLS WATER POLO SCORES
============================================
GIRLS SOCCER SCORES
DIVISION II
Flintridge Sacred Heart 2, Beckman 0
Saugus 8, Highland 1
South Hills 1, Chaffey 0 (OT)
Crescenta Valley 5, Chino 0
Canyon Country Canyon 8, Burbank Burroughs 0
Corona del Mar 5, Rowland 0
Redlands 1, El Modena 0
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 2, St. Lucy’s 0
Chaminade 0, Laguna Hills 0 [Chaminade advances, 4-2 on penalties]
Lancaster 2, Walnut 0
Burbank 1, Don Lugo 0
Yucaipa 1, El Dorado 0
Arcadia 2, Valencia 1
Harvard-Westlake 3, Quartz Hill 1
Irvine University 3, Ayala 2
Canyon 2, Redlands East Valley 1
DIVISION III
Corona Santiago 2, Laguna Beach 0
Santa Monica 3, San Luis Obispo 2
Riverside Poly 2, La Sierra 1
Fullerton 4, Kaiser 0
Garden Grove Pacifica 3, Jurupa Valley 0
Troy 3, Righetti 2 (OT)
Estancia 3, Westridge 2
Mayfair 3, Arlington 1
Sunny Hills 3, Atascadero 0
La Palma Kennedy 3, Canyon Springs 0
Summit 5, Bellflower 0
Chadwick 2, Culver City 0
King 2, Flintridge Prep 1
La Mirada 3, Beverly Hills 0
Cypress 2, Costa Mesa 1 (OT)
Arroyo Grande 6, Norwalk 0
DIVISION V
Oaks Christian 7, Windward 1
Torrance 1, Segerstrom 0
Marymount 4, Monrovia 3
Downey 2, Hemet 0
Maranatha 4, Ramona Convent 1
Paloma Valley 1, Whittier Christian 0
San Marino 4, Garden Grove 1
South Torrance 1, St. Bonaventure 1 [South advances, 5-4 on penalties]
El Segundo 2, Brentwood 1
Lakeside 4, Garden Grove Santiago 0
La Caada 3, Orange 2
Oak Park 6, Crossroads 0
Cerritos Valley Christian 6, Warren 0
La Reina 2, Campbell Hall 1
Ocean View 2, Rancho Alamitos 0
DIVISION VII
Duarte 1, San Gabriel Mission 1 [Duarte advances, 2-1 on penalties]
Gardena Serra 0, Connelly 0 [Serra advances, 4-2 on penalties]
Laguna Blanca 3, Mountain View 1
St. Genevieve 4, Azusa 0
South El Monte 12, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 0
St. Monica 0, Los Angeles Baptist 0 [St. Monica advances, 4-2 on penalties]
Vasquez 4, New Roads 0
Arroyo 4, St. Mary’s Academy 0
Thacher 2, New Community Jewish 1
St. Paul 2, La Puente 0
Sierra Vista 1, Sierra Canyon 0
Saddleback Valley Christian 2, El Monte 1
St. Matthias 4, Rolling Hills Prep 3 (OT)
=====================================
GIRLS WATER POLO SCORES
DIVISION IV
Arroyo Grande 11, Burbank Burroughs 3
Santa Ynez 10, Oxnard Pacifica 8
Burbank 18, Oxnard 6
La Canada 19, Righetti 5
Lompoc Cabrillo 18, San Luis Obispo 5
South Pasadena 12, Pasadena 5
Crescenta Valley 7, Nipomo 6
Rio Mesa 7, Temple City 3
DIVISION VI
Bonita 17, Saddleback 3
La Salle 8, Valencia 7
Elsinore 21, Oaks Christian 4
Los Altos 16, Orange 9
Chadwick 17, La Palma Kennedy 6
Walnut 22, Ocean View 6
Garden Grove Pacifica 8, Charter Oak 7
Malibu 16, Rowland 6
