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Sports

Girls Basketball: Arcadia Upsets Muir

Julianna Okamoto gets hot from downtown to lead the Apaches to a 36-33 win.

Ahsia Owens missed the game-tying 3-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation and the Muir girls basketball team lost in a 36-33 upset to visiting on Tuesday in Pacific League play.

“Muir has always been the team to beat (in the Pacific League) and we caught them off guard,” said Arcadia's fourth-year head coach Don Young, who couldn't recall the last time the Apaches defeated the Mustangs.

In a thrilling fourth quarter, it was Arcadia’s career 3-point leader Julianna Okamoto who stepped up down the stretch to give the Mustangs (11-6, 4-2 in the Pacific League) their second league loss in the last three games.

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After an 8-0 run by Muir, Okamoto (13 points) knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 27-26 with five minutes left in the game. Seconds later, Okamoto made another three to give the Apaches (9-7, 2-4) a two-point lead.

With the score tied at 31-all with 2:12 left, it was another Okamoto long-range shot that gave Arcadia the lead.

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“After I made the first 3-pointer, I got the confidence to keep shooting,” senior guard Okamoto said.

The Mustangs answered back after Emoni Jackson made a put-back basket and drew the foul for the opportunity to tie the game with one minute remaining. Jackson missed the free throw, and the Apaches kept their one-point lead.

Arcadia scored on its next possession, and then Owens’ miss from about two feet behind the three-point line ended the game.

It was the second least points scored by Muir this season, with its lowest output coming in a 42-30 loss at Glendale on Wednesday.

Young said the Apaches wanted a low-scoring game.

“The game plan was to try to keep the scoring low and not to turn the ball over,” Young said. “I knew once the game went on that if we score low we would frustrate them a little bit and (Muir coach Gary Anderson) didn’t have a lot of girls to sub in and as they got more tired we were able to capitalize on a couple of mistakes.”

The Apaches, who snapped a four-game losing streak, held Muir to 13 points in the first half.

Sophomore Jordan Jackson scored a game-high 15 points to keep the Mustangs within striking distance.

After Muir was up 6-4 in the opening minutes, the Apaches led until 32 seconds left in the third quarter when Muir tied the game at 23-all.

The Mustangs will now try to regroup against rival Pasadena on Friday in Pacific League play.

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