Verdugo Hills bounced back with big second and fourth quarters to overcome deficits.

Semifinals are supercharged emotional contests and Wednesday night was the epitome of that environment. Inside a sold-out Barn at Verdugo Hills, the top-seeded Dons hosted the #4 seed Kennedy Golden Cougars in the CIF City Section D1 girls basketball semifinals. Verdugo Hills overcame a 9-point deficit in the fourth quarter and held on for a 54-49 win with clutch free throws as time was winding down.

The intensity, and nerves were palpable from the very start. Both defenses were aggressive, forcing turnovers all over the court. Ultimately, the Golden Cougars converted three consecutive offensive rebounds into a putback by senior captain Andreya Villa and the first points of the game. Dons star captain senior Rayleen Castanos answered back with a steal and a layup to tie the game at 2 apiece. Senior Katherine Franco later turned a steal into a three pointer and a 7-2 lead. With under a minute left in the opening quarter junior Kayle Pimentel sank an inside shot to trim the deficit three and we’d end the quarter with Kennedy ahead 9-6.

It took a few possessions, but the Dons scored first in the second quarter on a free throw from senior Lilly Opper and then tied the game on a steal that led to a layup from Castanos. Verdugo took their first lead of the game just over two minutes into the quarter when sophomore Amiyya Castanos connected on a three-point shot. The younger Castanos caught fire and sank four straight threes. The Dons defense stayed stout and they went into halftime with a 25-19 lead.

“No surprise there. We expect that.” Dons head coach Kevin Petereson Henry said regarding Castanos’ accuracy from deep. “Every time she does that we expect it to go in because she’s been that way all season.

On the opening possession of the second half, Rayleen Castanos was poked in the eye and forced to exit the game for most of the quarter. She had also suffered an apparent thigh contusion on a collision earlier in the game. Opper subbed in and converted one of two free throws. 

“I do it for the team,” Castanos said when asked about gutting through the pain and contributing for the Dons. “It’s win or go home. It means so much to me to be able to get this far… I just gotta push through and have that mindset that you can’t back down no matter what.”

With Castanos out, Kennedy turned to the paint for offense and Villa took over from there. She went five for five from the field and added a free throw for an 11-point quarter. The Golden Cougars defense made life very difficult for Dons not named Castanos. Amiyya had seven of the Dons nine points in the quarter. Kennedy poured in 19 points, including a three from Franco for a 38-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We struggled in that third quarter.” Reflected Peterson Henry “Our defense wasn’t enough. We lost a little bit of the intensity, we had the turnovers that were uncharacteristic. It looked like we were feeling the moment a little too much.”

Franco opened the fourth quarter with another three pointer and the Golden Cougars extended their lead to nine before the Dons switched to a full-court press. Amiyya Castanos hit a three and sophomore Nicole Olivera added a triple of her own. Rayleen turned another Dons steal into a layup attempt with a foul to cut the lead to four points at 48-44. 

“(I called) a timeout with five minutes left and we were down 9. We gotta pick up full and I said, ‘I’ve seen you guys do it.’”

The pressing defense was forcing Kennedy into difficult decisions and also led to turnovers. After Amiyya fouled out with 2:15 left, the elder Castanos drove her way in for another layup and a foul. This time she converted the layup along with the and-one free throw for a three-point play. Opper connected on a three and the Dons held a 4-point lead 52-48 with 1:04 left in the game.

“I said Lilly Opper (was a player to watch pre-game), I’ve been waiting four years for a game like that from her.” Peterson Henry said. “You could see it when I first put her in, I don’t think it was until the second quarter but it was like ‘Oh she’s ready to go now’. She was ready for the moment.”

Kennedy had their opportunities to close out the game. Villa made one of two free throws to cut the lead to three points. Verdugo senior Elaine Oh missed two free throw attempts with 12.6 seconds left. The Golden Cougars secured the rebound and looked to continue their charge. Unfortunately, a pass to the baseline was too hot, and the ball went off the recipients hands and out of bounds. Opper was fouled on the ensuing in-bounds play, with Kennedy hopeful she’d miss. However, Opper calmly sank both free throws to seal the game at 54-49 with 5.5 seconds left. 

Looking ahead to the final, Peterson Henry was effusive in his praise of his team. He said pre-game that he felt they were peaking at the right time and post-game said that everything that worked in the quarterfinals was taken away by Kennedy, and he was proud of the way his Dons wrecked their way through it for the win. “That’s a growth moment right there, and to be able to do that in this game in this moment and go to the championship, I love being a part of it. I’m going to soak it in. I’m going to just love seeing them out there and I feel like we are going to be so much better in that game because we went through this right here.”

A remarkable season for the Kennedy Golden Cougars has come to an end. The Verdugo Hills Dons move on to the CIF City Section D1 Finals to face George Washington Prep. The finals will take place at Pasadena City College, with tip off set for 2:00 p.m.