Ea Shoushtari Leads LACES to Los Angeles City Basketball Championship

I had a chance to see my young cousin, Ea Shoushtari, in a LA City Schools playoff basketball game when I was on the west coast last month. Her team, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES), won the game by a wide margin ... something like 79-23.

I had to leave California before Ea and her LACES classmates could play the championship game. They were playing against the same team that beat them in the championship game last year. I was ecstatic to see the Los Angeles Times post on last night's game:

"Going into the fourth quarter of the City Section small schools girls' championship game, it was tied at 37-37. Then the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies scored the first 18 points of the quarter and never looked back in coming away with a 55-39 victory over View Park Prep at Roybal.

View Park (24-6) didn't score until there was 1:02 left. LACES (29-5) received three-pointers in the quarter from Ea Shoushtari, Rachel Totten and Jasmine Scott. Shoushtari finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Taylor Holeman added 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Danielle Pruitt had 11 points for View Park."

Congratulations young cousin! I (and ESPN) look forward to seeing how you and the rest of the Unicorns do next year when you are a high school senior!