Photo by Steve Carter/Special to Gila Gerardo: Lea Llamas stole the ball to secure a 48-42 victory over No. 2 San Carlos in Friday’s semifinals. The Pima will face No. 1 Phoenix Country Day in Saturday’s 2A Girls State Basketball Championship.
Pima returns to state championship game for third year in a row
John Johnson
john johnson news@gmail.com
PHOENIX – A deafening crowd yelled for San Carlos, sometimes so loud that the referee’s whistle was inaudible, as third-placed Pima pulled out of a 40-40 draw midway through the fourth period on Friday morning. , upset No. 2 San Carlos.
“We’re back,” said Pima head coach Roy Corona. I handled it and got those layups.It was a good game.”
Pima next faced No. 1 Phoenix County Day before beating No. 5 Sedona Red Rock 60-45 in another semi-final. The game will take place at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix at 12:00 PM. Click here to purchase tickets on GoFan.
Pima 48 – San Carlos 42
The Pima led almost the entire game, with San Carlos only easily tying the game midway through the fourth period.
Ashlynn Chlarson led the Pima with 21 points and relied on crunch time to break a 40-40 tie with a bucket and two free throws. However, it was Lea Llamas who first opened the game with 7 of his 14 points for the Pima, securing the win with two consecutive steals and his two free throws.
“It was really crazy,” Llamas said. “It was really fun. This is like the greatest team ever. I’m happy to be with this team.”
The Pima defense held San Carlos to one field goal and free throws in the first period. Meanwhile, Llamas scored Pima with an early bucket and his 3-pointer. She then received Sweet her pass with an assist from her whoops Adysen and fast her break to score her layup and she scored her Pima 14-3 in the first period.
The Roughriders extended their lead to 20-7 in second behind Chlarson’s buckets, who made money in the Paint All Game.
About halfway through the period, the Braves’ full-court pressure began to pay off, and San Carlos took advantage of the turnover to get back into the game.
By the time Kylee Juan hit a one-stroke bucket and a free throw, it was a three-point game, 21-18 in favor of the Pima, but not through the noise of the resurgent Braves’ thunderous crowd. Juan terrorized the Pima and scored his team-high 15 points.
Pima responded to San Carlos’ run with one from Lamas and two consecutive 3s from Ella Wiltbank.
The third period is usually where the Pima clean up the game away from the rest of the team. Not this time.
Third was owned by San Carlos, who won the period 18-7 and took the intensity to 11. The turnover led to a fast-break chance and Juan continued to score in the paint, pulling San Carlos almost completely back.
San Carlos’ other scorers were Camryn Longstreet with 9, Elysia Cutter with 8, Chastity Steele with 5, Jenessa Victor and Cary Longstreet with 2 each and Chloe Wiley with 1.
The Braves erupted in cheers and shouts as San Carlos fought back to within a point at 37-36 after the third period, when Wiltbank shot again from deep to put the Braves behind by three. rice field. .
This is in no way disrespectful of the vociferous Pima fans, they only had a 2-1 advantage in the fan division.
It was under such circumstances that Charleson and Llamas, as well as the rest of the Roughriders, pulled up their bootstraps and ended the game.
Chlarson scored to put Pima up 44-40 before Juan scored to put them back in a two-point game, but Chalarson quickly fought back to extend it to four. Llamas then stole the ball and was fouled on a fast layup attempt. She made one of two, stole the ball again and was fouled again, made one of two and finished the game, sending Pima to the state championship game for the third year in a row. . They are the back-to-back defending state champions.
“The San Carlos fans are really loud, but we kept our energy up and used it as motivation,” Llamas said.
Chlarson is on both Pima’s championship teams in 2021 and 2022, and is chasing a third title.
“I’m really excited,” said Chlarson. “It’s going to be a tough game, but I think we can do it again.”
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