By: Ahrize Faletoi

On Thursday night, February 18, the Tustin girl’s basketball team played their first CIF playoff game of the season against the Temple City Rams. The Lady Tillers captured the easy win by 23 points and move on to round two.

The Lady Tillers were led by Devyn Barner, who had a game-high-tying 23 points and 18 rebounds, and Hea Pau’u and Lily Ballestero had 9 and 10 points respectively.

The Lady Tillers made their first 2 shot attempts and two free throws to take the 6-0 lead. The Rams answered back with a quick jumper from the free throw line to cut the deficit to 4 points. The Lady Tillers ended the quarter scoring 5 more points to take the 11-2 lead.

The Rams outscored the Lady Tillers by one point and came within five points before the end of the half (15-21). At the beginning of the third quarter the Lady Tillers held the Rams to 3 points and scored 9 of their own. Most of the Lady Tillers points that quarter came from Hea Pau’u and Lily Ballestero.

The Lady Tillers went on to capture the 49-26 win and are ready to roll on to the next round. The Lady Tillers go to the second round to play the Canyon Comanches. “Canyon has a live crowd, they have one of the best student sections and are always supporting every sports event.” expressed Ballestero, “I’m excited to return to my old school and play all of my former teammates.”