Centennial girls basketball team falls to Oak Park in Open Division pool-play game

CORONA — Centennial girls basketball coach Matt Tumambing had every reason to feel confident heading into Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play game against Oak Park.

“We probably had one of our best weeks of practice that we’ve had all season,” Tumambing said.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, how one practices does not always translate to how one plays.

Centennial fell into an early hole after making only 1 of 21 shots during the opening quarter. And the offense continued to struggle throughout the game, finishing the night 13 of 60 (21.7%) from the field.

No. 11-seeded Oak Park, on the other hand, executed its offense with extreme efficiency, making 58.7% of its shots en route to a 67-44 win over the No. 6-seeded Huskies.

“We did so many things out of character tonight,” Tumambing lamented. “Give credit to Oak Park, they stayed true to who they are and what they do. … They played hard and totally outplayed us.”

Oak Park (20-8 overall) never trailed Saturday and held a lead for all but 47 seconds of the game. It was a impressive bounce-back performance for the Eagles following a 77-51 loss to No. 3-seeded Sierra Canyon.

“We were really sharing the ball and playing unselfish basketball,” Oak Park coach April Schilling said about her team’s effort. “I’m proud of the execution and the confidence they had in each other.”

Ava Rogerson led the way early, scoring Oak Park’s first nine points of the contest. Maya Urteaga later drained a 3-pointer and Maya Deshautelle added a bucket to extend the Eagles’ lead to 16-6.

Centennial (18-4) scored only six points in the opening quarter, but it was not for lack of chances. The Huskies had nine offensive rebounds in the period but managed only three second-chance points.

Centennial already was playing shorthanded, as sophomore forward Sydney Douglas is sidelined following season-ending surgery because of a compound fracture of her left pinky finger. Late in the first period, McDonalds All-American Cydnee Bryant was called for charging, her second foul, and picked up a technical (also a personal foul) when she throw the ball down at the Eagles player who took the charge.

Bryant sat on the bench for about 3 1/2 minutes, but Tumambing eventually had to roll the dice and put Bryant back on the floor with three fouls after Oak Park extended its lead to 27-8 in the second period.

Bryant finished the evening with 17 points to go along with a game-high 18 rebounds, but she had dial things back to avoid further trouble. Bryant only picked up one more foul the rest of the way.

“We’re already down a key player (Douglas), and depth is not a strength for us,” Tumambing said.

Karisma Flores scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second quarter, as Oak Park kept its foot firmly on the gas. Centennial did make a late run to trim the deficit to 35-20 at halftime.

Centennial’s best offensive stretch came midway through the third period. Keleesa Howard and Armanyie Reed hit 3-pointers and Bryant scored six points to get the Huskies within eight points.

Schilling called a timeout during that Centennial run to regroup her players. It worked. The Eagles responded, closing the third quarter with a 10-1 run to get their lead back to double digits (54-37).

“That was a big moment for us,” Schilling said. “Centennial is a good team, and good teams will go on runs. … We just needed to understand that we don’t need quick shots, we need quality shots.”

Oak Pak made 7 of 16 shots in the first period, but the Eagles were 20 of 31 the rest of the way.

Rogerson finished with 17 points, and Deshautelle added 12 points for Oak Park. Deshautelle also was tasked with guarding Reed, Centennial’s point guard, for the majority of the game.

“That’s a tough matchup,” Schillings said. “She (Reed) is a downhill driver and very fast, so it’s not easy staying in front of her. It was a team effort tonight, but Maya set the tone with her defense.”

Reed and Talithakoum Poialii-Hunkin each scored eight points for Centennial.

Oak Park finished pool play at 1-1 and increased its chances to advance to bracket play and secure a state playoff berth with Saturday’s victory. Centennial will head to Sierra Canyon on Wednesday for its final pool-play game. A win by Centennial forces a tiebreaker to determine which two teams advance to bracket play.

The team that finishes last in the pool will be eliminated from the section playoffs but will have an one more opportunity to secure a state berth via a play-in game against Lakewood St. Joseph (Feb. 21).

“I explained the situation to them after the game.” Tumambing said. “It’s win or go home right now. We need to go out next week and show pride in everything that we’ve been doing this season.”