Lia Krumian didn’t want to go off to college without having a playoff win in her final three years of high school.
So Krumian did what would be expected of a senior leader. She helped Providence High shake off a slow start and earn its first playoff win in three years as the Pioneers defeated visiting Bishop Diego of Santa Barbara 58-40 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs.
Krumian, who gave everyone in the Providence gymnasium a scare when she fell and was slow to get up with seven seconds to play, finished with a game-high 21 points.
“My last two years here we’ve been eliminated in the first round, so it has been rough,” said Krumian, who said her fall was only because of a leg cramp. “Coming into this year I knew I wanted to get past this first round and prolong my season as long as I can. I will never play high school basketball again. I’m excited for the next game. I want to rest up and get prepared.”
Providence (18-6) will now play at Torrance High Saturday in the second round of the CIF playoffs.
The Pioneers started out slowly as did Bishop Diego (19-7).
It took more than three minutes for either team to score.
But once things got going, they continued. At least that was the case for Providence, which overcame an early 9-2 deficit to take a 28-23 halftime lead.
“I think we fought. That’s the one thing I can say about this group. They always want to win. You aren’t always going to win, but these kids have something that is rare,” Providence coach Kristineh Zadourian said.
Providence’s zone defense in the second half forced Bishop Diego to try more from long distance and the shots were not falling.
A put back by Nicole Kadi midway through the third quarter that put Providence up 39-29 was a big basket in terms of keeping the momentum going.
Kadi finished with 18 points and fellow senior Sylvie Demirjian had 19 points as Providence went up by as much as 23 points in the fourth quarter.
Galilea De La Cruz had 18 points to lead Bishop Diego.
