Garfield Takes Girls “Classic Hoops” Game Over Roosevelt

(Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: We now move our production coverage to High School Girls varsity basketball games and for the first time ever, we are featuring the Roosevelt “Lady Rough Riders” vs. the Garfield “Lady Bulldogs” varsity game that was played on 1/13/23 between the longtime and arch-rival schools. 

It was on a very historic January, Friday the 13th, 2023 for this CIF/L.A. City Section (LACS), Eastern League game to finally be played as a varsity Girls and Boys prime-time night “double header.” Here is how it basically occurred. After some discussion with both schools’ Athletic Directors and Administrative Officials, it was agreed to schedule both of their games on the same day, 5:30 pm for the Girls, and 7:00 pm for the Boys.

This Hardcourt/Hoops rivalry contest for the “East L.A. Classic” Indoors style then took place at the highly modern and “State-of-the-Art” new multi-faceted gymnasium located on the Rough Riders campus.

**[Special Note From The Editor]:To all of our followers, please note that both teams are scheduled to play their second round game of the Eastern League this coming Friday, 2/3 at Garfield in the same “varsity double-header” format. Girls Tip-off at 5:30 pm, Boys at 7:00 pm. Make your plans to attend accordingly as the gym may be packed before the girls game ends.

–Brief Game Summary–

[1st Half]: The Roosevelt gymnasium was three-quarters full when the game tipped-off. Garfield Head Coach, Oscar Tavera came in with a starting line-up of SO/#42/Alisson Hernandez, SR/#20/Jennette Delgado, JR/#11/America Valencia, SO/#23/Liyah Gomez, and SO/#5/Jada Barnes. The Lady Bulldogs came into the contest with an overall record of (7-8) but more importantly, they were undefeated in Eastern League play at (4-0).

{"slidestoshow":3,"slidestoscroll":1,"dots":"true","arrows":"true","autoplay":"true","autoplay_interval":3000,"speed":300,"loop":"true","lazyload":""}

Danny Vidal, Roosevelt’s 1st year Girls’ Head Coach, took the floor with an overall record of (9-10) and sent out his starters: SO/#22/Naomi Sanchez, SO/#1/Anahi Lopez, JR/#2/Ozomatli Lopez, SO/#4/Nadia Zepeda, and SO/#0/Alexa Sanchez. They were in 3rd place in Eastern League play with a (2-2) record on this game day.

Surprisingly, the Lady Riders took a (14-12) lead at the end of the period. N. Sanchez led Roosevelt with (4) points and #1/A. Lopez with 2 three-pointers for (6) points, led their team. Meanwhile, #5/Jada Barnes showed her sharp scoring skills by putting up (8) points. Martinez and Delgado added (2) apiece.

However, during the 2nd quarter, Roosevelt unfortunately wasn’t able to handle the Lady Bulldogs “full-court” press, nor the Garfield switching half court defense which when applied together constantly, held the Lady Riders to just (5) total team points in the period and (20) points fewer than the Lady Bulldogs.

For the rest of the game basically it was all Garfield as they showed an aggressive full court press for the reminder of the game and forced the Lady Riders into disconcerting double-digit turnovers that led to many unanswered points by Barnes and Hernandez. This pair combined for 25 team points, with Barnes racking up (18) of them, many coming off fast-breaks that came after Lady Rider turnovers and steals by the Lady Bulldogs.

[HALFTIME SCORE]: Garfield 37  Roosevelt  19

[2nd HALF]: The second half, now with the gym completely filled with 1,600 fans, was basically a repeat of the 2nd quarter as Coach Tavera literally played every member of the team as Barnes continued to add to her (27) point first half scoring spree. Barnes ended her huge scoring night with (46) points and teammate, Allison Hernandez also added double figures with (12). Jennette Delgado was credited with (8) and the same amount of rebounds.

For Roosevelt, they were led in scoring by Center/N. Sanchez as she put up (11) points and (10) rebounds. A. Sanchez reached double digits with (10) points, O. Lopez, had (6) points, while N. Zepeda, Alexa Sanchez, and #33/Salote Patetefa all had (4) points.

[FINAL SCORE]:  Garfield  63  Roosevelt 42.

–Garfield Coach Tavera’s Corner–

On his preparation for the game…“I went and scouted Roosevelt when they played other opponents. It always makes a difference when you have seen your opponent play a game before you meet up with them. It certainly helped us with our game strategy.”

On his team’s game performances… “My 10^th grader, Jada Barnes continues to take command of the offense. She is a young leader and a returner. Senior Jennette Delgado is a 4 year varsity player and has demonstrated her seniority and leadership. She is our top rebounder. My other 10^th grader is newcomer Alisson Hernandez who has made an impact on the team as a ball handler and shooter. After this win, we are currently undefeated in league with a (5-0) record.”

On your team’s outlook for the second round of Eastern League play… ” The second round will be very tough. The league will be coming after us. We need to continue to work hard and try to finish the season on top. The team goal was to be League Champs and make playoffs.”

On Coaching in the first-ever Boys & Girls Varsity “double header“…“It was very exciting. It was my first experience with a large crowd on hand. It was great to have the parents come out and support their daughters. The rivalry brings out great competition and the atmosphere really gets your heart pumping and your adrenalin flowing”

–Player Game Quotes– 

Jennette Delgado…“My experience on playing in front of a big crowd felt a little overwhelming but was fun because it was the first time both teams were in the same place and it felt really exciting.”

Jada Barnes…”It was good intensity and we loved the energy.”

Alisson Hernandez…(Translated)…”The truth was that I felt very nervous but at the same time committed to play for my school, Coach Tavera, and all of fans who came to support us. I’m also just very happy and thankful that I have the opportunity to play for Garfield.”