The Birmingham Community Charter High School girls varsity basketball team won the CIF Los Angeles City Section Open Championship for the second time in three years with a hard-fought victory over Westchester High School, sealing a 55-50 win at Pasadena City College on Feb. 24.
“I just really wanted to win,” shooting guard and small forward Andrea Arosemena said. “We have a couple of seniors and I knew it was going to be their last year and it was very important to me to win as a freshman.”
As the only freshman on the varsity squad, Andrea Arosemena contributes six years of basketball expertise, having developed her abilities with three external leagues — No Limit, Havoc Hoops, and Northridge Bruins Basketball — in addition to her time on the Birmingham team. Her passion for the game was at an all-time high as this pivotal matchup approached.
“My favorite part of playing basketball is just being able to play and my least favorite is probably the certain calls that we get and the referees make against us that aren’t very good,” Arosemena said. “It brings our confidence level down and we start playing a little slower compared to when we’re playing really good and everything is back to back.”
Despite these frustrations, the team’s performance during the game was a testament to their resilience. The intense game saw both teams battling neck and neck throughout all four quarters. Birmingham frequently managed to edge ahead by a slim margin of one or two points. The stands were packed to capacity, with supporters filling both sides of the gym. Birmingham’s supporters were decked out in pink, contrasting with Westchester’s supporters in black.
“It was really exciting, I love the energy that we had in our crowd,” Arosemena said. “It was just fun overall.”
In a nail-biting finish, the Birmingham girls varsity team clinched the win, securing a spot in the state CIF Regional Playoffs game. Their upcoming game is the CIF State Division 1 – Round 1 game against Westview High School at Birmingham Community Charter High School on Feb. 27.
Despite the team’s great success so far, they have faced “a couple of challenges,” one of those being the time they played against Sierra Canyon. They took a serious blow against Sierra Canyon, falling 87-47. Nevertheless, Arosemena does not let past challenges hold back her and her team, as she already looks forward to the state game.
“Advancing to state is a huge accomplishment for us,” Arosemena said. “It would be the first time Birmingham has ever won a state game.”
