AZUSA — The Gabrielino girls basketball team claimed its first CIF Southern Section championship Friday by knocking off Mission Valley League rival Rosemead.

After losing twice to Rosemead in league play, the Eagles won the most important matchup, 38-23, in the Division 5A championship game at Azusa Pacific University.

“It’s very exciting,” Gabrielino coach Jairo Mendoza said of the program’s first CIF-SS title. “I thought our game plan went very well, and defensively we prepared and executed all around. Offensively, I thought our freshman (Kimiko Nagata) did really well in guiding us.”

Mendoza said for the final he “just kind of figured we needed to prepare a lot on the defensive side” after losing to Rosemead twice.

Gabrielino (18-10) was led by Nagata’s game-high 15 points, which was surprising. She averages 3.1 points per game.

Nagata shot 6 of 9 from the field with one 3-pointer and was 2 of 2 at the free throw line.

“It felt amazing,” said Nagata, who was the smallest player on the court Friday. “I’ve always been the shortest and I really wanted to show that I have the skill to play with these tall girls.

“I just went for it and really wanted to beat Rosemead, and I just had the adrenaline in me.”

Gabrielino senior forward Ava Yamashita scored 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting. She made three 3-pointers.

Senior center Maya Katz added seven points for the Eagles.

Rosemead (25-7), which went undefeated in the MVL with a 12-0 record, was led by junior forward Sophia Cuevas’ 10 points. Junior Madeleine Tran added five points.

The unfortunate stat of the night for Rosemead was its 4-for-48 shooting from the field.

The first half was all Gabrielino as it took a 14-5 lead after one quarter, and increased it to a 14-point lead at halftime, 25-11.

Gabrielino continued to build its lead in the third quarter by holding Rosemead to two points. Gabrielino led 34-13 heading into the final quarter.

“(Gabrielino) took advantage when we came out a little bit flat in our game,” Rosemead coach Martin Jones said.