The No. 1-seeded Banning Pilots’ impressive fourth-quarter display carried them to a 57-36 win over the No. 2-seeded San Fernando Tigers for their second consecutive Los Angeles City Section title in the Girls’ Division 2 playoffs.

With just a three-point lead over the Tigers, the Pilots put a 17-0 run together to kick off the final quarter and take a commanding lead, which they would ride until the buzzer. Joshlyn Harris resisted early foul trouble to lead her team with 12 points, and Alina Argueta played an important playmaking role while scoring 11 points of her own.

The Tigers kept it close in the opening quarter, largely in part to Ilene Lopez’s nine points. She was the first to find the basket in the contest, and scored three more layups during the quarter. Turnovers and second chance points cost the Tigers, though, who trailed 15-12 into the second quarter.

“I knew they were going to have butterflies at first,” said Garcia. “It just carried on a little longer than I thought it was going to. Easy layups we should have made to get out early, we missed.”

The second quarter showcased a defensive battle between the teams. The Tigers held Banning to just six points in the second quarter, but were unable to find the basket themselves, only scoring five.

“The switch to zone was good, it worked out,” said Garcia. “But our struggles scoring the basketball from that first quarter followed us. A five-point quarter? There’s no reason why we couldn’t have doubled that up and taken the lead into halftime.”

Trailing by four early in the third quarter, the Tigers came out of the break hot. Back-to-back threes from Delilah Caudillo and another from Kimberly Garcia contributed to an 11-0 run for San Fernando, who took their largest lead of the evening at 30-23. 

“They came out a little bit more aggressive,” said Garcia. “Shooting the ball they were a little bit more comfortable, and once we got that lead I thought we were in a good position.”

Banning would have the last laugh in the quarter, however, as a late three from Melony Bernabe gave the Pilots a 35-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Tigers lost control of the game in the fourth quarter, and could not stop a Banning full-court press. The Pilots forced numerous turnovers while putting together a 17-0 run to start the quarter. The lead quickly grew out of hand for San Fernando, who went on to lose 57-36.

“I’m extremely proud, man,” said Garcia. “I can’t be any happier. I mean we wanted to win it all, but just making it here is big for the program, big for the school and just a good memory for the girls.”