Alemany girls basketball falls short in Division 2-AA regional final to Mater Dei Catholic
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MISSION HILLS – An assistant coach slipped something into the hand of Bishop Alemany girls basketball player Jordyn Jiron as she sat outside the locker room.
It was a small plastic bag, and inside it was a runner-up medal – silver, with a red strap.
“I just use it as confidence,” Jiron, a senior, said. “Just to keep leveling up, keep getting better. It’s just a reminder that I need to keep working.”
Red-strapped medals were handed to each of the Alemany players without any pageantry after they lost to Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista in the CIF State 2-AA SoCal Regional final, 56-42, on Saturday night at home.
It wasn’t a glamorous season, at least in the beginning. The Warriors (18-3) practiced on the track when COVID-19 restrictions kept them outside, using a portable hoop that a parent brought in.
“We always talk about Warrior mindset,” said coach Johnny Garcia. “You win or you lose, but if you keep fighting, you keep doing the little things every day, it brings it into life as well. It’s not always about basketball.”
With the Warrior mindset at the forefront, Alemany went undefeated in the Sunshine League, then fought its way to a CIF Southern Section Division 2AA championship and on to the SoCal Regionals, in which they played three games in one week.
Mater Dei Catholic (20-9) outscored the Warriors 17-8 in the first quarter.
“I think just because of the energy they brought,” said Jiron of what made Mater Dei Catholic formidable. “And the continuous fast pace. They made us turn it over.”
Alemany trailed throughout the game, but brought the deficit within 10 points late in the fourth quarter. An Emi Xua 3-pointer made it 50-41 before Mater Dei Catholic went on one final scoring run.
Bryanne Lopez-Wood finished with a game-high 12 points for the Warriors. Success Prysock scored eight and Maleyni Tolliver and Jiron each chipped in seven.
“They’re obviously finishing. They had their bigs match our bigs,” Garcia said. “At the end of day, we had that little run, and then they would answer back. If you take out that first quarter, then who knows. But I thought we fought back in the second half.”
Three seniors graduate from Alemany’s program this year. As Jiron uses a runner-up medal as motivation wherever she decides to play in college, she expects the returners to continue the Warrior mentality.
“When I looked around (the locker room), it was just a lot of sad faces, but definitely some faces with some chip on their shoulder when they come back for next year,” she said. “I just want them to bring in the same tempo and energy that they’ve always had the whole season.”