PASADENA — The Gabrielino girls basketball team is on a quest for a CIF Southern Section championship. It’s a journey that began in December by going through Mission Valley League rivals. It’s also a journey that’s ending with Mission Valley League rivals.

The Eagles soared past league opponent Marshall Fundamental 39-22 on Saturday night in the CIF-SS Division 5A semifinals.

Gabrielino (17-10) will face Mission Valley League champion Rosemead (24-6) for the CIF-SS title. Rosemead easily defeated Bolsa Grande 39-17 in the other semifinal.

“That’s going to be fun for us,” said Gabrielino coach Jairo Mendoza about playing Rosemead a third time. “I’m looking forward to it to be honest with you. I know the last couple of games we’ve had against them have been great games. I’m hoping we have the same type of battle.”

Rosemead won the Mission Valley League with a 12-0 record while Gabrielino finished second at 10-2. The Panthers defeated Gabrielino 27-25 on Jan. 17 and 47-39 on Feb. 5.

Gabrielino defeated Marshall (11-14) for the third time this season. The Eagles won the first matchup 43-30 and the second 26-18. The contest Saturday was similar.

The Eagles used a suffocating defense, forcing 25 turnovers and holding Marshall without a field goal for more than 21 minutes from early in the first quarter to late in the third quarter. During that field goal drought, Gabrielino outscored Marshall 23-5 to take a 31-14 lead after trailing 9-8.

Mendoza talked about his team’s defensive play during that long stretch of the game.

“I just think the way the girls were rotating today — their hands were up,” he said. “I thought they did an awesome job at it.”

Marshall coach Gaelle Wartoukian said it was a tough game. Her team was playing without starting shooting guard Maryn Goodwin, who injured her knee in Marshall’s 35-28 quarterfinal win over Mary Star of the Sea.

“It did slow down the offense,” Wartoukian said of playing without Goodwin. But she also said it was one of those nights when shots simply weren’t falling into the basket.

Gabrielino had its own long field goal drought. The Eagles didn’t hit their first field goal of the second half until 3:52 left in the fourth quarter when sophomore forward Shannon Yan hit a 3-pointer from the wing to push Gabrielino’s lead up to 34-20. Up until that point in the second half, Gabrielino’s only point was a free throw by Kimiko Nagata in the third quarter.

Mendoza said the field goal drought didn’t have him nervous.

“I knew that our defense was pretty solid,” he said. “I was just hoping we would get a basketball in between all of that.”

SATURDAY’S SCORES

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 3AA

Keppel 57, Chapparal 32

DIVISION 3A

Cantwell Sacred Heart 41, Whitney 36

DIVISION 4A

La Mirada 41, University Prep 22

DIVISION 5A

Rosemead 39, Bolsa Grande 17

Gabrielino 39, Marshall 22