Both Cerritos High basketball teams gather for a group picture following a 41-26 loss by the girls to Palos Verdes High last Saturday in the Southern California Holiday Prep Classic. The boys had lost to Mt. Carmel High earlier in the day at the Holiday Hoops tournament about 24 miles away from El Capitan. Both Cerritos teams went 1-3 in their respective tournaments in America’s Finest City. PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF.
Jan. 1, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
POINT LOMA-Before the Cerritos High girls basketball team ventured down Interstate 5 to participate in the Southern California Holiday Prep Classic, head coach Marcus Chinen was feeling a bit uneasy. Originally, his team was placed in a division with two pools and was to have played against easier competition.
But a switch within a week of the tournament beginning due to teams dropping out forced tournament officials to make modifications, including putting Cerritos in the WNBA Premier Gold Division bracket where it opened against Etiwanda High last Thursday. Sure enough, the Dons were blasted 78-22 but had a chance to bounce back and even things up with a win against Mater Dei Catholic High the next day at Point Loma High.
Chinen was feeling better for most of that game, watching his squad lead for most of the contest in the debut of junior Mady Macaraeg, the transfer from Whitney High. But Cerritos went cold over the final 4:56, connecting on just two of nine from the field as it watched the Crusaders own the fourth quarter 19-10 and rallied for a 51-43 victory inside the house that former Point Loma standout Terri Mann dominated from 1984-1987. She led her team to four straight CIF State championships as the Pointers went an amazing 122-1 during that time.
“It was the shooting touch; we missed a couple of layups here and there,” said Chinen. “I think this was one of our better free throw shooting games. We just didn’t get to the line as much as we wanted to. We were up by a little bit and tried to extend [our lead], and I think we had a couple of our players in foul trouble. [Because of that], they weren’t going in all the way because they didn’t want to pick up that fifth foul.”
Cerritos didn’t trail in the first quarter, owning a five-point lead with 19 seconds left in the stanza on two free throws from senior Megan Wallace. Mater Dei Catholic took the first of its two leads in the second quarter 75 seconds in as Promise Martin scored her second of three baskets before halftime.
The Dons regained the lead just past the halfway mark of the quarter on a free throw from freshman Analiyah Coneita. Then with one second remaining before halftime, Macaraeg scored on an offensive putback to make it 24-22. The lead would change hands four times in the third quarter and three times in the final quarter, the last coming at the 4:09 mark on a free throw from Anna Karen-Lacabe. The Dons remained within striking range and when Macaraeg drained her only three-pointer, it was 47-43 with 1:07 left in the game.
“This was her first game, and we look forward to her bringing a lot more to the team going forward,” said Chinen. “Again, too, it’s another lineup that’s different. From the very beginning of the season, we haven’t had a consistent lineup. We’re a few games away from opening league, and we still don’t have our set lineup going into league. These girls are being shuffled around and some of them are being put in a position where they’re not used to playing. But they’re going to have to pick it up, which hopefully down the line, it will make them better.”
Macaraeg scored a team-high 17 points, pulled down six rebounds and had three steals while Coneita came off the bench to add a career-high nine points. The Dons had 24 rebounds and forced 18 turnovers, resulting in 11 steals while turning the ball over 20 times.
The next day, the scene shifted to El Capitan High in Lakeside in the East County area of San Diego and things didn’t get better. The Dons failed to score in the second quarter as a 9-4 first quarter lead turned into a 41-26 loss to Palos Verdes High. After scoring the first five points of the contest and the final four of the first quarter, Cerritos didn’t score until 54 seconds into the second half and by then, it was 18-11.
If the Dons has visions of cutting their deficit even more, it was quickly dashed when Palos Verdes went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:18. Cerritos shot an astonishing 10 of 43 from the field with Coneita leading the way with nine points off the bench while Macaraeg added seven points. Senior Ambar Multani grabbed 12 rebounds with Wallace and sophomore Jordin Pulley each collecting four rebounds.
“We’re relying on a lot of the freshmen to step in into some big shoes,” said Chinen. “Again, all three of them have had to start a game. It’s not a bad thing; it’s just that they’ve had to start because we were shorthanded, or we had some injuries.”
Cerritos (5-10) bounced back to defeat El Camino High 68-33 and is now 4-8 in tournament games this season. This was the second straight season the Dons have been in this tournament. Last season, they lost all three pool play games before knocking off El Capitan in the final game.
“I think the size of some of the teams that are here will help us out moving forward,” said Chinen. “The Etiwanda game was something for the girls to remember. They played against girls who are going to universities after their high school career is finished, and it’s something that they can talk about even if they don’t continue their career after high school.”
Cerritos will visit North Torrance High on Saturday and Whitney on Tuesday in the 605 League opener.