LONG BEACH — Defensive intensity. That’s what the Long Beach Poly girls basketball team relied on when they held Alemany to six points in the third quarter on their way to pulling off a 54-47 comeback win at home in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs Thursday.
Poly, the Moore League champions, improved to 23-7 overall and will play at Esperanza (24-4) in the second round of the Division 1 playoffs Saturday.
Poly trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter. Alemany opened the second quarter on a 7-1 run, which extended their lead to 10 points, and forced Poly coach Carl Buggs to call timeout down 20-10 with 5:43 left in the first half.
However, the Jackrabbits fought back behind the inspired play of sophomore reserve guard Nevaeh Lemons, who provided a much-needed defensive spark off the bench.
“Poly is all about defense and my number one pride is defense,” Lemons said. “Defense turns into offense so no matter what, I’m going to bring the energy and help my team.”
Lemons, who finished with six points and two rebounds, refused to back down, which energized her entire team.
“She played her butt off,” said Long Beach Poly girls basketball coach Carl Buggs. “She’s always been capable of doing that but she had to get her endurance up and her confidence up. Now it’s up because now she’s just playing and that’s all she has to do.”
The 5-foot-5 point guard’s defensive tenacity helped the Jackrabbits cut Alemany’s 10-point lead to 22-21 with less than two minutes to go in the first half.
“We had to make some adjustments, a couple of different subs who brought the D… and once we found that right group playing together, it started working in our favor,” Buggs said. “I’m really proud of the girls.”
Poly still trailed 28-25 at halftime but went on a 15-6 run in the third quarter, securing a 40-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Jaleina Taluaili’s spinning layup put Poly up…
Read the full article here
