Whittier’s Julia Ochoa drives by El Rancho’s Cassie Fischer in a Del Rio League game on Friday. Ochoa made the winning shot in the Cardinals’ 42-40 victory.
(Staff photo by Keith Durflinger)

By Stephen Ramirez
WHITTIER — It might be just the first week of the league season, but that didn’t diminish what the Whittier High School girls basketball team accomplished on Friday.
Julia Ochoa scored 13 points and hit a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left as the host Cardinals took an early step toward Del Rio League supremacy with a 42-40 victory over El Rancho.
Whittier also getting 10 points from Sam Calderon improved to 11-8 overall and 2-0 in the Del Rio League. El Rancho, getting 12 points from Crystal Rodriguez and 10 from Sarah Gurrola, slipped to 10-9 and 1-1.

El Rancho, which had an 8-0 run during a five-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, went up 38-37 with 1:54 left on a free throw by Rodriguez. But Ochoa, after Whittier forced back-to-back stops, hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 59 seconds left for the 40-38 lead.
The Dons had several opportunities down the stretch to tie it or win it. El Rancho, which made just 6 of 21 free throws, was only 2 of 13 in the fourth quarter, including 0 for 6 in the final minute.
Whittier coach Willie Pittman: “This is big, because they are the defending champs. They are the ones we have to make sure we compete against. They have the target on their back and we are just trying to get back in the game. We had some good games (against El Rancho) last season, but we fell off down the stretch. This time, we finally held on.”

Whittier’s Julia Ochoa: “I wasn’t really thinking about the situation. But the shots at the end are the ones that are the most important. We had to make our threes. We just wanted to make our shots, pick up the intensity, play defense.”