In a rivalry showdown like no other for the Titans, the South Pasadena Tigers came to town for the second of two meetings on the basketball court this season. Both teams going into this matchup had excellent starts, the Tigers being 15-5 on the year while the Titans entered at 19-4, three of those loses coming at the hands of other Rio Hondo League squads. In the first meeting at South Pasadena, excellent three point shooting for the Tigers propelled them to a dominant 112-76 victory. However, in this matchup, it has been proven that anything can happen, and both teams came in hungry to both avoid and earn a sweep against their rivals.
Early on, the Titans burst out to a ten point first quarter lead, and the Titans were feeling it. Every shot seemed to be falling in the hoop, and the defense locked down an elite Tiger offense who typically puts up around eighty to ninety points a game. “We came out really strong and everything just felt great in those first few minutes,” Mitch Mooney, 11, said. However, the game leveled out towards the end of the quarter, bringing it to a 19-19 tie after one. Despite being heavy underdogs going into this matchup, the Titans were in it, after a back and forth second quarter, they actually led by one at the half, 36-35. However, the second half told a different story.
South Pasadena came out of the half blazing, retaking the lead powered by an excellent performance from junior Jack Madison. The Titans offense had no true answer for a reimagined Tiger defense who adjusted perfectly at the half, as the Titans only managed to add fifteen in the third and fourteen in the fourth. Meanwhile, although South Pasadena wasn’t shooting in their usual fashion, they still managed to outscore the Titans in each of the final two quarters, getting twenty-two and nineteen respectively. The Tigers purely outplayed the Titans in the second half, ending the game with a final of 76-65. “We just missed open shots,” said Casey Chan, 11. “If we make some baskets that we should have made its a different game.” This win puts South Pasadena up to 5-1 in Rio Hondo League play, while dropping the Titans to 2-4. This week, Titan hoops will host Monrovia on Wednesday night and travel to Blair on Friday for rematches against both squads.
