Girls Hoops: Wildcats Bring the Defense, Win First-Round Blowout

After a slow first quarter the Monrovia girls basketball team had to get mad. The Wildcats didn’t look like the , not with them throwing the ball away on numerous possessions and trailing La Mirada, the fifth-place team from the Suburban League.

From the second quarter on, however, No. 12 Monrovia’s defense was intense and it won in blowout fashion, 55-32 in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section 3A playoffs on Thursday. 

Point guard Gina Henderson made an impact on both ends of the floor with 14 points, eight steals, five assists, four rebounds and one blocked shot.

Henderson was the catalyst on the defensive end. She got in the passing lanes and disrupted La Mirada’s offense. Monrovia started off cold from the field, but when its defense picked up so did the points on the scoreboard.

“We got pumped up,” Henderson said. “We didn’t want to lose. The defense was good. It had to be to win.”

Monrovia trailed by three points heading into the second quarter. The Wildcats put together stellar defensive efforts in the second and third quarters to put the game out of reach.

In less than three minutes, the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run to begin the second quarter. They would outscore the Matadores 21-6 in the stanza.

As a team, Monrovia had 15 steals in the first half. The Wildcats built a double-digit lead with 2:22 left in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, the Wildcats held La Mirada to just five points. They led by as many as 24.

The first quarter was one Monrovia would like to forget. Henderson, Joelle Tucker and Maryssa Black combined to shoot 2-for-11 from the field.

“It was jitterbugs at first,” Monrovia coach Eliazar Diaz Jr. said. “They didn’t know what (La Mirada) was about. They adjusted well.”

Monrovia got easy baskets when its defense picked up. Senior forward Ashley Cook had a big game with 18 points, 15 rebounds, seven steals and three assists. Cook scored on transition buckets or set-ups from Henderson.

Tucker and Black scored nine and three points, respectively. Monrovia didn’t need big offensive nights from them, though, not with Cook and Henderson filling it up.

The Wildcats focused on defense, forcing numerous turnovers and finishing with 24 steals as a team.

“We got a little excited, our passes were a little over our head,” La Mirada coach Nicole Hyde said. “They were a good team. You have to give it to them.”

La Mirada’s Makenna Wright led the way with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore Alexandria Vanzuilen scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds. 

This was La Mirada’s first taste of the postseason in eight years. The Matadores finished 9-15.

Monrovia (17-6) will play the winner of Antelope Valley and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Saturday in the second round.

“I’m happy,” Diaz said. “I told the team to take this win. From Saturday and on, it’ll get harder.”