Roosevelt girls fall in southern regional

Scrappy squad comes up short against Marlborough.

Published online on Tuesday, Mar. 10, 2009

They knifed through the tall timber for rebounds, dived for every loose ball and, for 32 minutes, chewed away at the knees of an opponent that had an average 7-inch height advantage per player.

All that was admirable Tuesday night for the Roosevelt High Rough Riders, who represented one of the most compelling stories told in Central Section sports in years.

But the final chapter found superiority on the other bench as Roosevelt lost 60-42 at home to Marlborough-Los Angeles in the first round of the Southern California Division III Regionals.

Jade Smith, a 6-foot senior guard, scored 23 points, and Talia Caldwell, a 6-3 senior center headed to Cal, provided nine points and 17 rebounds for the all-girls private school from Hancock Park.

The Mustangs (22-11), runners-up in Southern Section D-III-AA, also went 6-4, 5-9 and 5-7 among their remaining starters.

And, in the end, that would swallow Central Section D-III champion Roosevelt (28-3), whose starters stood 5-10, 5-5, 5-5, 5-4 and 5-3 -- and a few of those listed heights are exaggerated.

"We played our hearts out, but they were a bigger, better, stronger basketball team, as simple as that," said coach Mark Gradoville, the turnaround architect of a Riders program foundering with a 42-game losing streak only seven years ago.

"We're the proudest coaching staff in the Valley," Gradoville said. "We won more games than most thought we could, and made the school and community proud."

Lashari Clayborne, a senior guard, closed an impact season for Roosevelt by making five 3-pointers and scoring 21 points, right on her season average.

It was her 3-pointer and free throw, and two free throws apiece from Mahogany May and Vanessa Gomez that filled a second quarter-opening 6-2 run that reduced the Mustangs' lead to 23-19.

That had Marlborough coach Trenton Jackson realizing his only fear: "I know why they won the Central Section championship, because they're scrappy and they don't quit. Responding at home to their crowd was my only worry."

His concern was short-lived as two free throws by Smith, 3-pointers by Stefanie Corgel and Ashley Lyles, and Caldwell's layup accounted for an 11-2 charge, making it 34-21 and restoring momentum that the Mustangs wouldn't lose.

They were too bright to let it go.

In addition to Caldwell going to Cal, 6-4 forward Sabaah Jordan and guard Taylor Ball are bound for Columbia of the Ivy League, and Corgel's going to UC-Santa Barbara.

"I've got some intelligent girls," Jackson said. "When it comes to book smarts, they're on top of their game. And when it comes to basketball, I have a handful who play club ball seriously, and the rest of them are students."

Gradoville, whose section girls basketball title was Roosevelt's first, applauded the Mustangs: "They're a complete basketball team and big at every position. When you play someone from L.A., you know they're going to be pretty good."