Rio Hondo College News

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Article published: Sunday, January 29, 2006

Whittier Daily News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune

There's no slowing Rio Hondo

By Greg Wagner Correspondent

WHITTIER - It might not appear to be traditional basketball, but that doesn't seem to matter for the Rio Hondo College women's basketball team. The Roadrunners, switching between two predetermined and fixed lineups less than every two minutes, took advantage of their fresh legs Saturday afternoon and made 16 3-pointers to cruise past visiting San Bernardino Valley College, 77-45.

In a system that Rio Hondo coach Kathy Pudelko tinkered with last season and fully implemented this year, the Roadrunners (18-7, 7-1 Foothill Conference) constantly subbed two complete lineups to get each player to go all-out when she is on the court.

"There's a lot of things to it. You can develop defenses and offenses that certain groups can run," she said. "You can get them to play harder rather than having to save yourself and wait."

Rio Hondo guard Ruby Catani benefited the most from the system Saturday by moving around the perimeter to find holes in the San Bernardino (1-18, 1-6) defense and scoring 18 points on six 3-pointers. Guard Elena Agabao wasn't far behind her teammate with five 3-pointers and 15 points.

"Ruby's a shooter, Elena's a shooter. You have to be a shooter to play on this team," Pudelko said.

Aly Tsuchiyama scored 12 points and Amelia Perez added 11 to also finish as double-digit scorers for the Roadrunners, who shot 3-pointers whenever there was a slight opening in the defense. Combined with a pressing defense, the strategy worked perfectly against the Wolverines.

"It's a run-and-shoot, that's our style. It's fun," Catani said.

The game got off to a tough start for San Bernardino, which fell into a 9-2 hole. Things didn't get much better as the Wolverines' sloppy play and mental errors sent them into halftime trailing, 42-17.

No play can better describe their first-half frustrations more than an early turnover by Malia Garihay. The guard tossed an in-bounds pass to a teammate and, with one foot still not on the court, got the ball back and was whistled for being out of bounds.

Forward Jane Westmoreland, who had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds, was the lone San Bernardino player to score in double digits.

The victory kept the Roadrunners in contention for a conference title and a berth in the playoffs. Rio Hondo, along with Barstow and Antelope Valley, began the day with one loss in a conference that sends only its top two teams to the postseason.

"Our goal from the start was to win league, but our other goal was to make the playoffs," Pudelko said. "We have a good shot at it, but we have to finish the rest of the season strong."

-RHC-


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