Downey High girls basketball beats La Serna for fifth straight win
Downey’s Natalie Gomez (5), right, steals the ball from a La Serna player in their non-league girls basketball game at La Serna High School on Saturday. Downey defeated La Serna 53-47. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
DOWNEY – The Downey High School Girls Basketball team continued its winning streak with a 53-47 nonleague win over host La Serna Saturday night (Dec. 20).
The win was the Vikings fifth in a row, dating back to Dec. 9, and eighth win in their last 10 games.
Leading the way for the Vikings was sophomore guard Natalie Gomez with 17 points. Also in double figures was junior guard Amaya Hernandez with 13 points.
La Serna was led by freshman guard Ella Almonte with a game-high 23 points.
Senior guard Danae Covarrubias and sophomore forward Isabella Quintero each scored seven points.
La Serna started out with an 8-2 lead after a layup by Quintero with 4:50 left in the quarter. Quintero and Almonte scored five and four points, respectively for the Lancers in the opening quarter.
“We had really good energy (Friday, Dec. 19, against Whittier – won 67-39) and we played really well,” said Downey coach Nate Harris, who is in his 17th year as coach. “Sometimes when you play back-to-back days and you play really well one day, sometimes there’s a little let down in the next game.”
However, the Vikings outscored La Serna, 12-4, to take their first lead of the game. That came near the end of the quarter with eight seconds left on a 3-pointer by senior guard Emily Carbajal for a 14-12 lead. Also highlighting the scoring in that run was a layup by sophomore guard Bella Mejia (8 Pts.) and a layup and 3-pointer by Gomez.
“Once we got into the flow, we’re all locked in,” said Gomez, of the 12-4 run.
Gomez was big on the boards for the Vikings, and she knew her team counted on her. She added, “My team said they needed me to help rebound, so I had to go in there and get some balls for them and kick out.”
In the second, both teams traded leads on a low-scoring quarter as La Serna scored eight points and the Vikings had six.
The Lancers opened the quarter with the only points from the field by Covarrubias on a 3-point basket to lead, 15-14.
Downey came right back with a three of its own by Hernandez, who drained the long-range shot, which was the first of three for her in the game to lead 17-15, with less than a minute gone in the period.
The Vikings added to their lead on a free throw and a layup by Hernandez and Gomez, respectively to lead, 20-17.
After some good defense by Covarrubias and a scoring drought by both teams for two minutes, the Lancers ended the half with a free throw and a layup by Almonte to tie the game up at 20-20.
“(The game) was a tough one,” said Almonte, of the loss.
La Serna was without four players but fought hard against the Vikings to keep it close in the first half.
“Everyone pulled through, including the girls that don’t play a lot and that’s what mattered,” added Almonte. “It gave them a lot of experience, and this was almost like a league atmosphere.”
Almonte is no stranger to the La Serna gym, saying “It’s (playing varsity basketball) definitely different,” she said. “It’s the first time playing in this environment. I came to all of the games last year.”
The third quarter went to Downey, as the Vikings outscored the Lancers, 13-7 for the 33-27 lead.
After baskets by Gomez and senior guard Abby Moreno (3 pts) and a free throw, the Vikings had a 25-22 lead. La Serna sophomore guard Leila Enomoto (6 pts.) tied the game with a 3-pointer with 2:52 left in the quarter.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Veronica Mejia (5 points) and Hernandez gave the Vikings a 6-point advantage and they would never relinquish the lead.
Each team scored 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Vikings finished with the 6-point victory.
The biggest lead of the game up to that point for the Vikings came on the third 3-pointer by Hernandez to up the scoring to 38-29 early in the quarter.
“It’s my first year back (to basketball) after taking last year off to play flag football,” Hernandez said. “Once I started driving, I got comfortable. I missed basketball last year and decided to come back.”
La Serna went on a small, 6-2 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer and a driving layup by Almonte, to trail, 40-35.
The Vikings then built up another 9-point 44-35 lead on a couple of free throws by Veronica Mejia with 4:16 left.
Bella Mejia chipped in with a three-pointer and added a driving layup with 2:40 left in the game for the 11-point, 51-40 lead.
In the last two minutes Almonte added a 3-pointer and a free throw by Covarrubias helped close the Lancers to within five points, 52-47. That was the closest they got in the last few minutes.
Bella Mejia finished the scoring for the Vikings with a free throw.
Mejia, who had just come back to play after sitting out five games due to an injury to the mouth by an opponent late in a game, was happy to be playing again.
“Honestly, I was extremely grateful to be back,” she said. “This is the sport that I love and I’m really passionate about it and just happy to be back.
“I missed all of my teammates, and I was just excited to get back out there.”
Downey sophomore forward Arianna Guerra added four points for the Vikings.
Downey travels to Hawaii after Christmas for three games, beginning at Maryknoll (10-4) in Honolulu at noon Saturday (Dec. 27), which is followed by a game near the middle of Oahu at Mililani (7-1) Monday (Dec. 29) and finishing up with Punahou (4-6) Tuesday at 5:30 pm in Honolulu.
Previously, the Vikings went to Idaho for a trip.
La Serna coach Tim Tisnado spoke of his players who stepped up with the absence of some starters. “We had girls step up that hadn’t played as much during the season,” he said. “We had Leila Enomoto come off the bench and hit a couple threes in the corner and we had Hailey Jaquez-Aguayo, who is one of our main players, who is coming off of an injury in the Fall.
“We also had Madison Corral and Ella Almonte both step up for us.”
Warren boys basketball starts 9-4
The Downey boys had a nine-game winning streak snapped with a 63-48 loss to Serra of Gardena Monday (Dec. 22).
The started the season with three consecutive losses, before they went on that winning streak.
Three players lead the team in double figures in scoring – senior guard Matthew Topete (12.3 PPG), senior guard Christopher Medina (12.3 PPG) and sophomore guard Lucas Morales (11.8 PPG).