SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: Escarcega on Preps: Keppel girls basketball gives community something to cheer for with an historic CIF Southern Section Championship
Aztecs go on a 15-1 run at the start of the game to help propel them to a Div. 3A championship.
Keppel Girls Basketball team championship photo. (Escarcega)
ONTARIO – The brass shoe finally fit.
The story had a finish that felt satisfying.
For the first time in Mark Keppel HS history, the girls basketball team can be called something they’ve never been able to say…
Champions.
Friday’s 49-39 win over Cerritos in the CIFSS Division 3A girls basketball championship was for the little man who was told they couldn’t win a title. It was a win for the Alhambra and Monterey Park community, which embodies the American dream.
Most of the players come from families in the Asian community. They never want media attention around them. They are hard-working families with kids who are taught to work hard and pay attention to detail, which is uncommon in today’s social media environment.
It wasn’t that long ago that the nation descended on Monterey Park and Alhambra, but it was for all the wrong reasons. An unthinkable tragedy that crushed the two cities to their core. On that day, no one was thinking about sectional championships. The tears that ran down the cheeks of the residents in that part of Monterey Park and Alhambra were real and heavy.
When the clock struck zero and the game was over, tears ran down the cheeks of all the players on the Keppel bench.
This time, however, the tears were ones that every player dreams of when they play athletics—tears of joy. So many times, the girls' basketball program was on the doorstep to greatness.
The state championship run in 2015 culminated in a humiliating loss in the state final to Archbishop Mitty.
There were the numerous appearances in the sectional semifinals, only to come up short against the program from the “Power” private schools.
Not on this night.
In the mind of Keppel girls basketball coach Kenny Phan, they played a schedule loaded with teams in either Division One or Two. So when the brackets came out and were placed in Division 3A, you can understand how happy Phan was.
And they were seeded 28th.
“I told our kids that everything I was doing was for them to get to this moment,” Phan said. “For the last two weeks, I’ve have been able to go to sleep. Every hour during the run, I would get these ideas – after watching film – and put it on our group chats.”
That part is not unusual. The part that seems a bit strange is that some of those messages came at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning.
“I would wake up in the morning and get all these messages from coach,” Keppel star guard Jada Ly said. “People don’t understand how hard (Phan) works. His commitment to this team is second to none, which is why we love him.”
When you play the Lady Aztecs, it’s an experience unlike any other. They don’t play the game at a conventional level. They make you work for every point if you are on the opposing team. Their patented “full-court press” makes other teams second-guess the reason why they are playing them. Confidence levels go to all-time lows. Turnovers happen at a breakneck pace.
Don’t believe me… just as Cerritos.
They couldn’t handle Keppel’s full court. Like South Pasadena several weeks ago, Keppel takes the drama out of the games. It was no different as the Aztecs started the game on a 15-1 run.
This is like giving Secretariat a head start in a horse race. It’s like spotting Carl Lewis 10 meters in the 100 meters at the Olympics. You don’t give Keppel that much of a head start and hope to win.
The smile on Phan’s face at the end of the first quarter looked like a kid opening his gifts on Christmas day. Keppel was up 21-10, and life was good if you were an Aztec.
However, the basketball gods can mess around with a good story. They make sure that sectional titles are not runaway affairs. A missed opportunity here, a turnover there, and suddenly, we have a game.
And that was the case for the Aztecs in the third period. The basket, which to the Keppel players looked like one of those huge Salvation Army buckets you see at Dallas Cowboys games, appeared to have shrunk considerably. Keppel shot only 14% in the third quarter, and Cerritos took advantage of the situation and cut the lead to 36-30.
The message from Phan to his team was simple.
“I told our girls if we win the fourth quarter, we’ll win a CIFSS championship,” Phan said.
That meant it was time for the Aztec stars to come alive. Jada Ly, who Phan said before the game “is going to have a big night,” played her usual tenacious defense. Even though Keppel struggled to score from the field, it was no better on the other side of the court.
When the time comes for the Cerritos girls' basketball coaching staff to watch the tape, they’ll watch in frustration with all the offensive missed opportunities that the Dons had. Whenever they needed to make a huge basket, they missed.
It was like watching a golfer continually miss clutch birdie putts on the final day of a major event.
Alyssa Canizal and Ly made the big free throws in the final minute. It was fitting that Keira Kamida, who scored 11 points in the first quarter and was continually double-teamed throughout the game, made the final free throws that secured the historic victory.
In the final seconds, Phan let his guard down. He waved his arms, imploring his fans to make noise. Many players from La Salle and throughout the area were cheering wildly from the front row of the stands behind the Aztecs bench.
Keppel’s Kenny Phan is presented the CIF Southern Section championship plaque. (Escarcega)
And when the clock reached zero and victory was secured, the players came together in a group hug that felt like 10,000 people were on the court. This was a win for a portion of Monterey Park and Alhambra that hadn’t had a lot to cheer about in the last couple of years. There was no national media on hand at the Toyota Arena on Friday.
Just a smattering of local news media and Harold Abend from CalHiSports.com.
Historians will note that Kamida was the leading scorer with 15 points, Ly had 12, and Canizal contributed 11.
For Phan, the moment was genuine and satisfying.
“I made sure that it was for them,” Phan said before the championship ceremony started. “We lost two players before the game to injury, but all I told our kids was ‘who’s going to step up?’ And they stepped up!”
The moment was even more powerful for the 5-foot 6-inch Ly, who had to overcome an ACL injury from last year and missed the first half of the season. In the end, this story does have a happy ending.
“I’m still trying to process everything,” Ly said. “I’ve always dreamed of this moment, and now that it is here, it's so surreal.”
“It’s super exciting,” Canizal said. “I’m always going to remember this day, especially with all of the girls leaving. But I’m so glad. We did something super amazing.”
“I never realized how close we were to getting a banner,” Kamida said. “I’m just so happy to be here.”
With that, Phan, Ly, Canizal, and Kamida left the interview stage and went into the locker room. Phan was the last person to enter and yelled, “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!” with everyone screaming at the top of their lungs.
It was time to celebrate.
For the post-game meal, you might think Sushi or other Asian delicacies would be on the menu.
Not with this group.
“We are getting a taco truck!” Phan said.
A historic CIF Southern Section Championship is the only thing sweeter than freshly made tacos.
This is especially true for a group of players who gave their community something they can stick their chest out and say the words that no one can dispute—champions.