3C2A Women's Basketball Quarterfinal #1: State first-timers matchup goes Glendale way

(WALNUT) -- Two schools that had never been to the Elite Eight--South #2 Glendale and North #3 Folsom Lake--hooked up in the opening quarterfinal of the 3C2A Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon. It was the Vaqueros building a giant 23-point lead and then held off a late surge by the Falcons for a 66-57 victory. 

Malia Ulery scored 25 points, making five 3-pointers and then 6-for-6 at the free throw line, and Osanna Tirityan adding 24 points and 13 rebounds as Glendale won its 24th straight. The Vaqueros upped its overall record to 29-2. 

Folsom Lake (22-9) finished its season despite 24 points by Corrie Harrison, who keyed her team's rally by making 9-for-12 from the field. The three All-State regular season players were the only players for either team to reach double figures in scoring.  

"We were able to get the big lead by moving the ball and taking the right shots," said Glendale head coach Joel Weiss. 

On the Folsom Lake rally, he said: "It's crazy to think, but the game is always one of momentum. Folsom Lake is a good team and at some point they were going to make a rally. We didn't play our cleanest full game, so we'll have to be better in the semis,"

In the first quarter, Glendale hit a trio of 3-pointers, two by Ulery to take a 16-7 lead.

The Vaqueros immediately got things going in the second period on a trey from the top of the circle by Patil Yaacoubian, then Ulery kept the juggernaut flowing with two more long-distance baskets.

By the time Tirityan made a layup, Glendale was up by 21, 33-12 with 2:51 left before halftime. Folsom Lake got its first sustained run with seven straight points capped by a 3-pointer by Emily Ko that at least kept the Falcons in the vicinity, down 33-14 after two quarters.

In the third quarter, Glendale took a commanding 23-point lead with an 11-0 run accentuated by a corner jumper by Tirityan. At that point, Folsom Lake started to find cracks in the Vaqueros' state-leading defense.

A fast break layup by Folsom Lake's Khalilah Corley cut it to 50-37 at the end of the third quarter.

In the final period, the Falcons kept up the intensity to slice to eight, but a Tirityan layup made it 55-45. Folsom Lake responded 10-2 run as a jumper by Alysa Lopez turned it into one possession game at 57-55 with 1:23 remaining.

Tirityan got open for an inside basket, following by six free throws by Ulery in the final minute that insured Glendale's tourney triumph. 

"I'm so proud of the way that our team didn't give up when we were down by a lot," said Folsom Lake head coach Ali Mollet. "I felt like this team built a foundation for Folsom Lake by being the first team to make it to state."

Glendale controlled the rebounding boards throughout the contest, outrebounding Folsom Lake, 46-29.

Glendale faces North #1 Butte in the semifinals on Saturday, Mar. 16 at 1 p.m.

Release by Robert Lewis, 3C2A State Tourney Women's Basketball SID/CCCWBCA Publicist