Arcadia Girls Basketball Routs South Pasadena

The Arcadia girls basketball team started off the week with a 62-44 win over South Pasadena on Monday night.

The jump ball tipped out of bounds to give South Pasadena the game's first possession, and junior guard Kelsey Nakamura scored the first basket with an easy layup in the paint.

Turnovers on both sides kept the two squads neck and neck through the first two quarters, but bad ball handling by the Tigers and better shooting by the Apaches in the last three minutes of the second quarter gave Arcadia a 10-point lead going into the break.   

"The back of our press was bad today," said South Pasadena coach Rich Kitagawa, who is in his first year as the Tigers coach. "We shot a lot better, but I was disappointed in our press."

And the second half would prove to be an even tougher battle for the Tigers as the Apaches came alive in the paint, with sophomore guard Melody Chang scoring easy back-to-back baskets after big steals from senior guard and captain Joy Kang.

South Pasadena continued to make shots, but coach Kitigawa was forced to call a timeout halfway through the third quarter after five crucial turnovers.

Buckets by South Pasadena senior guard Kelsey Lee and senior forward Katie Nakamura late in the fourth quarter just were not enough to fight off the Apaches 18 point lead.

 "We won, but in the future I want the girls to just take better care of the ball," Apaches coach Don Young said. "They tended to get trapped more than I like, and I want them to be able to get up and down the court with more ease."

Katie Nakamura led the Tigers with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Kelsey Nakamura added 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting. Arcadia's Julianna Okamoto scored a game-high 23 points, and Kang scored 19 to form a tough one-two punch for the Apaches.

"We're tired and a little beat up right now because we have had so many games back to back, and some of our players are out sick" said Kitigawa.

The Tigers (2-3) hosted the San Diego Classic Basketball Tournament in conjunction with San Marino High School just last week, along with playing their regular scheduled season games.

South Pasadena will play El Segundo in the Crescenta Valley Tournament, while Arcadia plays Glendora next Monday night at 7:30p.m. at El Monte High School as part of the 16th Annual Arroyo High School Lady Knight's Christmas Classic.