Birmingham girls basketball beats Westchester in neck-and-neck battle for CIFLACS Open Division title

Janna Holley led all scorers with 18 points for the Patriots.

LOS ANGELES– Holding a small lead from the first quarter through the fourth is one of the most challenging, nerve-racking ways to win a championship game. But that's essentially what Birmingham did on Friday night to beat Westchester 51-46 to win the L.A. City Section Open Division title.

"I kept telling the girls to play all four quarters. We weren't league champs because we couldn't play four quarters against Granada (Hills Charter)," said head coach Victor Koopongsakorn.

"We played four quarters tonight and we're City champs tonight."

The Patriots came out executing on both ends and making shots to lead 10-4 with 2:57 left in the first quarter, and 16-9 just over halfway through the second quarter. Westchester finished the first half on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 18-16 going into halftime as Birmingham cooled off from the field.

Technically, Birmingham didn't quite hold its initial lead for the entire game. There was a slight blip in the second half that made it even more nerve-racking. The Comets took their first lead at 22-21 early in the third quarter, and would take another one-point lead before the quarter finished tied at 31. Westchester would lead one last time at 36-35 early in the fourth quarter too. 

But this wasn't the Patriots squad of previous times that would occasionally have prolonged stretches of diminished execution after holding a solid lead, or simply stop hitting makable shots in the fourth quarter of close games.

After Westchester went up 36-35, Birmingham retook the lead and never let it go. The game was never even close to over until Janna Holley hit two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to give the Patriots a five-point lead. But the Patriots, for the third game in three tries this postseason, brought it for all four quarters.

Holley, now the heavy frontrunner for City Section MVP, was incendiary from the field in the semifinals, hitting a career-high six threes and scoring 30 points to defeat reigning champion Palisades. She went cold from the field in the finals, only hitting one three and a floater, but she manufactured points and helped control the tempo of the game by getting to the free throw line, where she went 13-16.

So, Holley got her nightly of average of 18 points, and Birmingham got its nightly average of a lot of other players scoring in the 6-8 point range.

"Janna's composure never wavered, and if she didn't panic, neither would we," said Koopongsakorn. "Today wasn't a 'Janna for 30' day, it was Janna for 18 and everyone else chipping in, and they all made big shots when big shots were needed."

It can't be understated enough that they all made big shots.

Birmingham's two key additions this season, sophomore Natalie Lopez (transfer from Alemany) and freshman Lili Martinez both had eight points in the second half, with most of them coming in the fourth. Ayja Washington and S'riaya Peters, both of whom have emerged as important contributors as improved sophomores, scored six and seven points respectively, both hitting two field goals to open up the game for Birmingham and one more each in the fourth quarter. Senior Cate Soonthonthum had four points, including a momentous buzzer-beater to end the third quarter.

And they played staunch defense as a group, as usual.

The Patriots did have trouble keeping Westchester off the offensive glass, and it almost cost them the game. They battled, but no team in the section can fully match up with both Westchester's athleticism and length at every single position. Mariah Blake led the Comets with 16 points and finished with double-digit rebounds after scoring 25 points in an upset win against top-seeded Granada Hills Charter in the semifinals.

"Their length and size was definitely giving us trouble," said Koopongsakorn. 

"We got some length, but we also got some small guards. And they're tough as nails. Janna is trying to get to the hole, trying to will her way each time. Natalie had a couple big drives at all of 5-2. But they play 10 times her size."

At 5-3, Holley leads Birmingham at 6.6 RPG, and Lopez also helped box out players nearly a foot taller as the Patriots' frontcourt also gave the defensive glass everything it could. At the end of the day, they held Westchester to 46 points.

Lopez' addition to the lineup on Jan. 4 was a major game-changer for the Patriots. Even though both Lopez and Holley are point guards through and through, both can play off the ball, and their games meshed.

"Natalie adds an extra ball-handler. Teams can't really press us because we have two super ball-handlers. She goes at it on the defensive end, she's got a motor, she has a nose for the ball," said Koopongsakorn. 

"She's actually been playing with Janna for many years now, since they were young, I'm so happy to get to see them win this championship together."

Koopongsakorn added that senior starter and captain Mia Calderon, who couldn't play after an injury last game, still contributed as her leadership was "a driving force" in the victory.

The Comets' season might still be far from over. This loss could eventually prove to be merely a brief setback as Westchester heads into the CIF State/Southern Region playoffs, which actually spans more games than the section playoffs do.

Additionally, it won't serve as much consolation after they came so close to winning hardware, especially for the seniors, but Westchester will unquestionably open up next season as one of the very top favorites to win the Open Division. Blake, Rylei Waugh (who scored 14 points on Friday), Reigne Waugh, Ron'yae Jackson, and Anyse Grimble will all return for the Comets.

Westchester's senior class also still finishes high school as champions, as the Comets stormed their way to a Division 1 section title in 2019-20 when the 2022 class was sophomores.