Flintridge Prep, La Cañada players grab All-CIF girls’ basketball honors

Within a couple of city blocks from one another, the Flintridge Prep and La Cañada High girls’ basketball teams enjoyed their share of success during historic seasons.

Flintridge Prep and La Cañada each advanced to their respective CIF Southern Section division championship games in early March. Flintridge Prep captured the Division V-AA title, while La Cañada finished runner-up in Division III-A.

Throughout the playoffs, the Rebels got excellent defense and offense efforts from Renae Tamura. For her efforts , Tamura was tabbed Division V-AA Player of the Year after the CIF Southern Section office released its All-CIF teams for all divisions Monday.

Tamura, a junior guard, averaged 11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals per contest.

“I thought we had an amazing season and what a way to go by winning CIF,” Tamura said. “We worked very hard as a team throughout the whole year and I’m so proud of the entire team.

“I’m honored to be named player of the year. I never expected it. It’s a season that the team and I will never forget.”

Flintridge Prep finished 21-5, 11-1 in the Prep League for first place. After beating San Luis Obispo Mission College Prep in the CIF championship game at Godinez High in Santa Ana, the Rebels advanced to the CIF State Division V second round.

In the 39-34 championship victory over Mission Prep on March 5, Tamura tallied a game-high 20 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while she hit clutch free throws down the stretch to cement the win.

“Renae could go out there and get a lot of things done in all areas of the game,” said Rebels co-Coach Kevin Kiyomura, who, along with Jayme Kiyomura Chan, were named the division’s co-coaches of the year. “She wants to succeed and she really stepped up her game in the championship game.

“She knew how to make the big plays and make her free throws. When you can do all of that, along with playing good defense, you are going to have a lot of success.”

La Cañada went 29-5, 10-0 in the Rio Hondo League for first place and also went to the CIF State Division IV Southern California championship game before falling to Antelope Valley, which topped the Spartans in the CIF title contest under first-year coach Sarah Beattie.

Taylor Yoshida of Flintridge Prep, along with La Cañada’s Zoe Williams and Kristina Kurdoghlian, earned first-team recognition in their respective divisions.

Yoshida, a junior guard, contributed 13 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals per game and often spurred the Rebels’ transition game.

“Taylor did a lot of scoring, especially early in the season,” Kiyomura said. “That’s not the easiest thing to do while playing point guard and she distributed the ball very well.”

Williams, a junior forward, registered 11.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, four assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per game

“We knew coming in that Zoe would come up huge for our team,” Beattie said. “She thrived in her role and had a lot of big games, especially in the playoffs.”

Kurdoghlian, a junior guard, notched 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, three assists and two steals per contest.

“She had a tremendous ability to get after the ball,” Beattie said. “She got an opportunity to start and she proved to be invaluable on defense. She made a lot of big shots in the playoffs.”

Flintridge Prep’s Tala Ismail and Natalie Rozman received second-team accolades.

Ismail, a senior center, contributed 10 points, 8.7 rebounds, four steals, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks per contest. Rozman, a senior guard, averaged nine points, four rebounds and 1.9 steals per contest.

“Tala missed the beginning of the season with an injury and then she began to get better each game back by playing stellar defense and rebounding,” Kiyomura said. “In the playoffs, she took the team to the next level.

“Natalie used her length to get into the passing lanes and she could provide the team with clutch long-distance shooting.”

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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich