Since South Pasadena High senior Dylan Tse joined the girls’ basketball team when she was a freshman, coach Cody Masden has seen her game progress and improve year in and year out.
And in her final season as Tiger, Tse’s game took a major leap.
The senior made a major impact on all ends of the court, leading the Tigers to a fourth consecutive Rio Hondo League title and a spot in the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA quarterfinals.
Tse’s performance was recognized at the end of the season as the senior was selected to the all-CIF team and was named Rio Hondo League MVP.
“I’m thankful for all of these awards and I wanted my senior year to be special,” Tse said. “Seeing that people recognized all the hard work I put in is just awesome.”
This is the second time Tse earned all-CIF first-team honors after earning the accolade in her sophomore year. She was also named to the second team as a freshman and junior.
Masden praised her as an “all-around player” following four years on the varsity team.
“She’s our most valuable player, team-award-wise as well as Rio Hondo League MVP,” said Masden. “That’s who she’s been since she was a freshman. This year she really stepped up her game. She hovered around 20 points per game in her first three years and this year she upped it to almost 25. It’s just really the reason we’re even able to have any success in the playoffs. Whatever defenses were thrown at us, she could really find the openings and break presses by herself at times.”
Tse averaged 24.1 points and 4.3 assists per game, leading the Tigers in both categories. The senior grabbed 6.6 rebounds per game and was a constant disruption to the opponent’s offense, forcing 2.9 steals per game.
South Pasadena finished the season with a 26-5 overall record and captured its fourth straight Rio Hondo League title following a second straight unbeaten campaign.
“It’s been an awesome four years to have that accolade because previously La Cañada would always hand it to us and Temple City was always a close matchup,” Masden said. “We had to up our game a lot as a program.”
Masden, in his ninth year as the Tigers varsity girls’ basketball coach, reflected on the team winning its fourth consecutive league crown, looking back on the tough battles against the Spartans and the Rams in years past.
“It’s been a lot of growth in that time and sometimes you just get really lucky with the players that come through,” Masden said. “Dylan and her sister, Allysan, started that reign for us, taking the whole program to the next level. It’s so infectious. Now, because of their work ethic, everybody else in the program has to up their game as well and that’s why we’ve been so successful. We just took it to the next level.”
Tse scored a season-high 41 points twice this season. The senior first reached the tally in a 91-39 nonleague victory over Hesperia on Dec. 7, and later in an 85-49 Rio Hondo League win against La Cañada on Jan. 24.
The Tigers this season also recorded their biggest win in program history with a 121-10 victory against Monrovia on Jan. 10. Tse finished with the extremely rare “quadruple-double,” filling the stat sheet with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists and 10 steals.
“We were definitely more comfortable playing [with] each other,” said Tse of the team’s performance. “Last year, we were still adjusting to each other. We got Kayla [Boozer last year] and she was new, and it was our first year playing without my sister, and so we were learning to adjust.
“This year, we were all playing with each other, and we trusted each other. I think our efforts this year were definitely better than last year.”
South Pasadena was the No. 11 seed of the Division II-AA playoffs and reached the quarterfinals after defeating No. 7 Glendora at home, 56-52, and No. 8 Flintridge Prep on the road, 48-33.
Tse led the Tigers in scoring in their first-round matchup against Glendora with 22 points, and the senior followed that up with a 13-point performance against Flintridge Prep.
The Tigers hit the road for their quarterfinal matchup against No. 16 Mark Keppel, falling to the Aztecs 49-45 in Tse’s final high school game.
“She just really does everything,” said Masden, who added that Tse was the “heart and soul” of the team. “This year, I felt like, while her scoring numbers were her all-time highs, she really put an emphasis on getting her teammates involved and upped her assist to her career high as well. I think she’s just a really an all-around amazing player for us this year.”
First published in the April 4 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
