605 LEAGUE GIRLS BASKETBALL: Cerritos goes wire to wire against Whitney, inches closer to league title

January 28, 2026

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

Cerritos High senior Cameron Lacorte attempts a three-point shot in the first quarter during last Friday’s 605 League contest at Whitney High. Lacorte scored a game-high 15 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, had five assists and three steals in helping her team to a 55-30 victory. PHOTO BY MAKOA BOCALAN.

The Cerritos High girls basketball team began the first of two hurdles in consecutive games on its way for a second 605 League title in the past three seasons and fourth in the past seven seasons. What was expected to be a battle with second place Whitney High was just the opposite as the Dons scored the first six points of the game, never trailed and took advantage of Whitney’s lack of depth.

The Cerritos bench accounted for 24 points and the Dons cruised to a 55-30 victory last Friday night, improving to 14-11 overall and 7-0 in the league. The game was a far cry from the 72-58 win on Jan. 9 and put the Dons one win away from clinching at least a share of the league title. They will host Pioneer High, which is tied for second place with Whitney, on Jan 28.

“I think it was confidence,” said Cerritos head coach Marcus Chinen on the difference between the two games with Whitney. “We were shorthanded the first game. So I think with this game coming in, we kept pretty much the same starters as last time. And I think the plus that we had was having [junior] Kalana [Nguyen] and [junior] Jordin [Pulley] coming off the bench.

“I think now we’re balanced,” he continued. “I think eventually one or the other may start. I’m not too sure when, but if that happens, we’re just going to be that much better because now, everyone has experience.”

Even though the Dons were up 6-0, Chinen called a 30-second timeout less than two minutes into the game. At this time, the Wildcats had missed their first four shots, grabbed four offensive rebounds and turned the ball over three times. But junior Alyssa So knocked down the first of her two three-pointers and added a free throw over the next 1:38 to get back into the game. After that, Cerritos would go on a 16-4 run the remainder of the stanza and began to put the game out of reach.

“They knocked us down and beat us up,” said Whitney first-year head coach Carl Wilson. “The [referees] let that type of play go on. When you do something like that, it sends a message to the whole team. They were forearming us; bodying us up, had hands on us all night long.”

Wilson was referring to one play in which So, the team’s star player, was forearmed and fell backwards to the floor but no foul was called. He added that if the first six minutes of the game were taken away, the rest of the game would have been even.

A three-pointer from sophomore Jaslyn Macaraeg increased the score to 26-8 with 6:42 left in the first half. And even when the hosts, on homecoming night, responded with a 8-2 run, Nguyen silenced the Whitney crowd with a three-pointer off the glass at the buzzer to make the halftime score 31-16.

Nguyen scored nine points and had three steals before picking up her fifth foul with 5:17 left in the game while Pulley, who missed the first 20 games, scored 11 points and has averaged 11 points in the five games she has played in.

The dagger in the heart for Whitney was the third quarter when it was outscored 14-6 and 11 shots were taken by the hosts in the stanza. Making matters worse was junior Ella Nelson fouling out with 3:33 left in the quarter. She left the game with 12 rebounds, eight points and three steals. Senior Tina Namaranian and junior Cheyanne Cheung would each get their fourth fouls in the final quarter as the Dons went 10 for 17 from the charity stripe in the game.

“I have no bench,” said Wilson. “We don’t have the horses; we don’t.”

“It did benefit us because those three are really good players; they played well,” said Chinen. “They’re all really good rebounders, so we had to keep them off the glass, and I think when they get into a little foul trouble, just like our girls, they start thinking. Tonight was the night where I [told them] if any of you get into foul trouble, we might have to play you as long as we can. But it was key that we got them into foul trouble early.”

So led the Wildcats with 12 points but was three of 25 from the field and four of 10 from the free throw line. Namaranian added eight points and seven rebounds while freshman Sophia Kang and Cheung pitched in with seven and six rebounds, respectively.

“Well, the last couple of games her free throw shooting has gone away,” said Wilson of So. “That’s about the same shooting percentage she’s had all year long. She gets her shots up, but let’s be realistic, she’s playing as tired as she can be. But again, there’s no substitute for her.”

“That was key, too,” said Chinen of So’s shooting. “That’s one player that when she starts going, she keeps going. And she can shoot the ball from anywhere on that court. She’s very good at outside-in, inside-out. She drives to the basket well and that’s one of the girls we had to make sure we kept an eye on as well as [Tina].”

Senior Cameron Lacorte was a complete workhorse for Cerritos, scoring a game-high 15 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing off five assists and collecting three steals. Macaraeg added eight points while sophomore Analiyah Coneita scored six points and junior Kianna Rangel pulled down seven rebounds.

“That’s one of the keys to our team; a luxury to our team, and she’s like the glue who keeps everything together,” said Chinen of Lacorte. “If we had [senior] Mady [Macaraeg], too, we would have had a 1-2 punch. And now I would even say a 1-2-3 [scoring punch] with Kalana. I know we’re getting her back and working her in, too, just due to her injury in her first game back [on Jan. 21].

“But again, it is a luxury having points coming off the bench,” he continued. “We have leadership coming off the bench, and I think that’s key. I definitely this year will have a sixth man award because we have some girls fighting out for that sixth, seventh or eighth spot.”

Whitney, which defeated Artesia High 51-22 this past Tuesday to improve to 15-8, 6-2, will visit last place John Glenn High on Friday before closing out the regular season on Tuesday against Pioneer, which will most likely determine second and third place in the circuit. Cerritos will go to Artesia on Friday and entertain Oxford Academy on Tuesday.

“We talked about our style of play,” said Wilson. “We painted the realistic picture of what a loss meant versus the next three games. If we win them out, we’re in second place. The best game they played so far this year was against Pioneer. We came out; we were on fire.

“I’m not the type of coach who worries about wins and losses, especially with a team like this,” he continued. “My focus is to get them better, and the fact that the whole team returns next year is a blessing.”

“We are trying to get into playoff mentalities, so we’re saying one game at a time,” said Chinen. “Yes, I think it’s in the back of our minds that the league title could be ours if we do our job on [Wednesday] But if it doesn’t work out, then yeah, we have to gut it out the next two games left, and then we have to go from there. Our team right now…we’re playing well and together at the right time and I wish this team the best for the rest of the season and going into the playoffs.”