LAWNDALE The Lawndale girls basketball team didn’t let youth or a lack of playoff experience get in the way in Wednesday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA second round game.
The Cardinals didn’t waste any time getting off to an early lead and did not let up, cruising to a 57-30 win over Trabuco Hills.
Lawndale will host Valencia Saturday in the quarterfinals.
“A key to tonight’s victory was, I would say, intensity,” Lawndale coach Jacquoby Ward said. “We came with a better intensity today, than we did the first round. Our defense was a little bit more on point, our girls were a little bit more energetic.
“This is a very young team, so last game was their very first playoff game, so I think that the nerves and the jitters got the best of them, but today we were in our own gym, so I think that played well for the victory.”
Kimiko Kennedy and Leah Sarabia scored 13 points apiece to lead the way, while Jazmyne Shamburger finished with 11 points off the bench. Amarachi Esiobu contributed with 10 points.
“I feel like it was very exciting for just to play our first home playoff game, it was interesting to see how it went and everything,” Kennedy said. “I think it was like being, hustling for the ball, making sure I am making the right play for our team to be successful.”
The lady Cardinals got off to a strong start in the first quarter as they scored the first eight points and took a 21-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Shamburger scored nine points in the first half as the Cardinals took a 31-15 lead at halftime.
The key story of the first half, was senior Tiarra Eatmon, who suffered an injury during a collision and didn’t return for the remainder of the game.
“Tiarra’s huge, that’s a huge loss for us,” Ward said. “She’s a three-sport athlete, she wrestles, she played girls flag football, and basketball, all in the same season.
“She’s one of our only seniors that’s been in the program since I got here, and hopefully she can get back, hopefully she can get well, but the way she hit her head, I don’t know, this could been her last game, it’s her senior year, so I’m hoping we get her back, so we gotta keep winning, so we can give her an opportunity to play again.”
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
