Rosemead HS Girls Basketball is 10th Ranked After 9th Straight Win
By Chuck Lyons
Rosemead – Rosemead High School Lady Panthers girls varsity basketball team continued its unbeaten streak to nine games with wins at Gabrielino and at home against El Monte in Mission Valley League (MVL) action in early February.
Rosemead’s Lady Panthers improved to 8-0 in league and 17-4 overall with the two wins to also improve their CIF-SS 3A Division ranking to 10th place, which may be the highest in school history, announced Rosemead High Girls Head Coach Jay Gauthier Sr.
MVL leading scorer and last year’s MVL Player of the Year, senior Evelyn Ramirez, scored 15 points and had 15 rebounds and seven steals to help lead Rosemead to a 52-29 win at Gabrielino High on Feb. 3.
Rosemead senior guard Jeanne Tran added 11 points and junior guard Kim Hong scored a career high 10 points and stole the ball five times in Rosemead’s press defense.
The visiting Lady Panthers led 7-5 after the first quarter, then outscored Gabrielino 24-5 in the second quarter to take a commanding 31-10 halftime lead.
Rosemead extended the lead to 45-15 after three quarters.
Gabrielino was led by junior Jessica Rivera with seven points, and Regina Chen and Ashley Van Oosten each scored six points for the host Eagles which now have a record of
3-4 in MVL and 7-16 overall.
On Feb. 5, at Rosemead High was the game bouncy castle for sale between the first place Lady Panthers and the second place El Monte Lions, which is led by senior center Sandra Gutierrez, who leads the state in blocked shots. Gutierrez blocked five shots and scored 20 points to lead the Lions.
Rosemead though caused seven Lion turnovers in the first period to take a big 14-4 first quarter lead. Rosemead then doubled El Monte’s scoring by taking a 28-14 halftime lead and controlling the remainder of the game.
Rosemead’s win clinched at least a tie for MVL Championship, which is Rosemead’s seventh championship in the last nine years.
Ramirez had a few dominant blocks of her own, said Gauthier. It was Ramirez’s overall play though that pleased Rosemead’s coach as he reported she also scored 23 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, had two assists and stole the ball four times.
Ramirez leads the league in scoring for the third straight year and has a 19.6 per game average, is second in rebounds at 9.6 per game, and is first in steals at 5.0 per game. She is Rosemead’s second best all-time leading scorer.
Tran continued her adept ball handling against El Monte’s press and scored 13 points, had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots, said Gauthier. El Monte had worked its way back to a seven point deficit in the fourth quarter and then Tran hit a three pointer and made five of six free throws to keep the comfortable margin of victory for the Lady Panthers. The senior guard is fifth in MVL in scoring at 11.1 per game, second in assists at 3.5 per game, and second in steals at 3.7 per game.
Rosemead freshman Melody Gauthier scored nine points and had 11 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocked shots. She leads the MVL in assists with a 5.0 average, is third in blocked shots along with Ramirez, eighth in scoring at 7.2, and fifth in rebounds at 6.6 per game.
Coach Gauthier emphasized the efforts of three other players who had a significant outcome in the game. “I thought junior Ivy Luong and freshman Sydney Hua both played very good pressure defense against El Monte’s guards, and senior center Yvette Orduno slowed Gutierrez in the second half.”
Gutierrez leads the MVL in rebounds at 12.3 per game, is tied for third in scoring with Melissa Perez of Arroyo at 11.8 per game, and is first in blocked shots at 8.5 per game.
Jennifer Munoz and Connie To both scored nine points and Tina Stoval added eight points for El Monte. Munoz is third in the MVL in steals with 3.5 per game, and Stoval is second in points at 12.8 per game, and third in rebounds at 8.5 per game.
El Monte’s record is now 5-3 in MVL and 9-12 overall.
