Both 23 Seeds Advance As Part Of Women's Basketball Round 1 Regionals

UPDATED BRACKETS: SOUTH | NORTH

On paper, playoff seed numbers can often show a wide disparity between a higher rated team than a lower-seeded opponent. But once the games begin, the only number that counts is on the scoreboard.

Two #23 seeds proved that point as the South's Fullerton College and North's College of San Mateo were two of six lower seeds to perform upsets in Round 1 of the 3C2A Women's Basketball Regional Playoffs. 

Also advancing were NorCal's #21 Hartnell, #20 Taft, #17 Hartnell and South #19 Bakersfield.

Fullerton, the fifth place team from the powerful Orange Empire Conference, shocked #10 Santa Barbara City with a 34-11 first-half blitz on its way to a 70-63 win over the Vaqueros.

The Hornets (14-15) used a 30-point performance by Erin Choi, who sank 11 of 12 free throws, and received a pair of double-doubles by Hailey Lakey (15 points and 10 rebounds) and reserve Kazey Cruz (13 points, 10 boards).

Fullerton dazed SBCC by taking a commanding 26-8 lead and after taking a commanding 23-point still was in control up by 12 going into the fourth quarter. A Cruz layup made it 61-48, and the Vaqueros could only cut the final margin of defeat. The Hornets also avenged a 68-61 home loss to Santa Barbara in a December tourney game. 

SBCC (21-8) was led by Kaylee Lawson with 24 points, including a 15-for-18 night at the FT line. Aariah Fox added 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Santa Barbara was initially the highest seed to not get a first-round bye at #9, but was moved to 10 to avoid a same conference matchup. In this case, Saddleback moved to #9 to avoid facing OEC foe Fullerton. 

San Mateo (15-14) followed Fullerton's similar path by eliminating #10 Lemoore, 71-62. Like SBCC, Lemoore (20-9) was the original North #9 seed. The Bulldogs (15-14) also had previously lost to the Golden Eagles, 87-59, in a November tourney matchup.

But this time, CSM rallied from down 23-9 after one quarter and 52-41 after three quarters by outscoring Lemoore, 30-10, in the fourth to complete the upset. San Mateo was led by Diamond Altamirano, who came off the bench to total 16 points, eight rebounds and five steals and Marie Palu with 14 points. For Lemoore, Lia Sims posted 19 points and 14 rebounds and Savannah Rowland dropped in 15 points, made seven steals and passed out five assists. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 28

SOUTH ROUND 2 MATCHUPS
16 Santa Ana v.  1 Mt. San Antonio
15 Chaffey v. 2 Irvine Valley
19 Bakesrfield v. 3 Moorpark
13 LA Trade Tech v. 4 Orange Coast
12 Palomar v. 5 MiraCosta
11 Long Beach v. 6 Cypress
23 Fullerton v. 7 Mt. San Jacinto
9 Saddleback v. 8 Glendale

NORTH ROUND 2 MATCHUPS
17 Modesto v. 1 San Joaquin Delta
15 Los Medanos v. 2 Folsom Lake
14 Sacramento v. 3 Laney
20 Taft v. 4 Fresno City
21 Hartnell v. 5 Santa Rosa JC
11 San Jose v. 6 Butte
23 San Mateo v. 7 CC San Francisco
9 Sierra v. 8 Sequoias

SOUTH REGIONAL RECAPS

9 Saddleback d 24 LA Mission, 71-46: The Bobcats (21-8) only led 30-27 late in the second quarter, but then took over in the third quarter (24-8) to eliminate the Eagles. All-State Third Team Kassidy Beach and the other four Saddleback starters all scored in double figures with Beach tallying 13 with 19 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Mariana Mina led the way with 16 points, including sinking four treys while Nina Saiki scored 13 and delivered six assists. LA Mission (15-14) was paced by Ashley Martin, who scored 14 and pulled down 13 rebounds. Saddleback won its first playoff game since 2008.

11 Long Beach d. 22 Ventura, 68-50: The South Coast Conference South Division champion Vikings (20-9) stretched their win streak to 12 by breaking open a close contest (led 31-29 late in the second quarter) with a 19-7 run in the third period v. the Pirates. Leading LBCC was All-State Third Team Mya Barnes with 15 points, Devoni Ray, who notched 11 points, eight rebound and three steals, and Zoie Lamkin's 10 points and three takeaways. Ventura (15-14) had a strong effort by Kayla Lumas, who scored a game-high 20 points with nine rebounds and had a double-double by Charnelle Nichols on 11 points and 12 boards.

12 Palomar d. 21 Pasadena City, 78-40: The PCAC co-champion Comets trailed 12-6 early on, but took complete control over the final three quarters, outscoring the Lancers, 61-25, over those final 30 minutes for the easy win. Palomar (21-7) forced PCC (14-15) into a season-high 31 turnovers as Ivorii Seals scored 18 points, ReeRee Davis added 17 points and six assists, and Kami Gillis drained three 3-pointers as part of her 15 points. Monica Menzies scored 12 points to finish 18th on PCC's All-Time Scoring List and freshman Kamora Fletcher tallied 10 of her 12 points in the first quarter. 

13 LA Trade-Tech d. 20 Victor Valley, 64-53: The Beavers (20-9) never trailed, built a 10-point lead after three quarters and advanced with the win over the Rams (18-10). Athieng Bol powered her way to 30 points (10-for-12 at the FT lead) and made six steals while Erin Jackson totaled 10 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks. Jada Kindle added 12 off the LATT bench. VVC was led by Savannah Wynn's 23 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks. 

19 Bakersfield d. 14 Copper Mountain, 69-66: The Renegades (20-9) became the first team other #7 Mt. San Jacinto to hand the Fighting Cactii a loss in this upset. Bakersfield trailed late but Danika Tolentino drilled a 3 with 45 seconds left, then sank two free throws to be the comeback hero. Tolentino poured in 28 points and Jamie Neaderbaomer poured in 20. CM (25-3), the state's highest scoring team at 92.1 average, scored less than 70 points for just the second time all season. Copper Mountain received 20 points from Zoe Tennell and 14 by Gia McFadden. 

15 Chaffey d. 18 Rio Hondo, 80-73 (OT): The Panthers (17-12) trailed by as much as 14, then 45-35 by halftime, before rallying and taking a 65-63 lead on Danielle Singley's jumper with a minute left. RHC's Miranda Morales though sent the playoff to overtime on a layup 24 seconds left. In the OT, Cali Azcuenaga bombed in two 3-pointers to complete the comeback and send Chaffey to Round 2. Abby Hardy led Chaffey on 17 points and 13 rebounds, Kamryn Ellis had 13 points and four steals. For Rio Hondo (13-16), Kathleen Rachmat came off the bench to score 18 points and make five steals and Audrey Campos added 14 points and blocked five shots. 

16 Santa Ana d. 17 San Diego Mesa, 51-48: The Dons (16-13) were the sixth place team from the OEC, but are still alive after holding off the Olympians (15-14). Clare Patrick's 3-point basket gave SD Mesa a brief 43-41 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Anaya Beard made back-to-back buckets for a 49-45 SAC advantage as her squad completed the close triumph. Beard led all scorers with 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Kiki Graham added 12 points and four steals. For Mesa, All-State Second Team Stevie Lundquist scored 13 with 11 boards and four assists while reserve MJ Johnson chipped in 11 points. 

NORTH REGIONALS RECAPS

9 Sierra d. 24 Merritt, 111-60: All-State Third Team Brooklynn Nordquist and Kamryn King led seven different Wolverines in scoring double digits with 19 points each as Sierra (20-9) routed the Panthers. Sierra led 58-25 by halftime then scored an impressive 44 points in the third quarter for the exclamation mark. Jesse Slade was a four-category performer on 16 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and six steals. For Merritt (16-12), All-State Second Team Savannah Jones led her team to the postseason. 

11 San Jose City d. 22 Cosumnes River, 58-42: All-State First Team Hayley Johnson was as advertised in posting 21 points and All-State Third Team Synise Byrd added 16 points and four steals to lead the Coast South co-champion Jaguars over the Hawks (14-15). Kaydin Meyer contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for San Jose (22-6), now on a 10-game win streak. CRC was the seventh place team from the playoff-heavy Big 8. CRC's top player was was All-Big 8 First Team Ariel Bailey.

21 Hartnell d. 12 Redwoods, 67-51: The other Coast South co-champion Panthers (18-10) pull off another upset over the Corsairs (16-13), who finished on a tough 3-game losing streak. Hartnell's top player is All-Coast South First Team Bailey Cotter while Redwoods countered with All-GVC First Team Nora Talty.

20 Taft d. 13 Skyline, 60-47: The Cougars (19-10) were one of three 20-or-over seeds to make it past Round 1 with this upset over the Trojans (18-11), who stumbled to win just two of their last seven games. Taft jumped out to a 34-21 halftime lead, before Skyline cut it to 48-43. Taft responded with a layup by Jada Miller and a jumper by Tiara Jackson to seal the victory. Ella Waufle scored a team-high 12 points. Skyline's top player was All-Coast North First Team Niesha Ramirez. 

14 Sacramento City d. 19 Napa Valley. 96-79: Sierra Tuliau may not have made the All-State Team, but the All-Big 8 First Teamer put on a clinic in scoring 45 points, the third highest total by a player in the state this season, in the Panthers (14-15) victory over the Storm (19-9). Tuliau rained nine 3-pointers in 17 attempts (16-or-29 from the field overall) and was 4-for-5 at the line. Also for SCC, Madeline Young dished out an impressive 17 assists with four steals and Rheanna Nobleza tallied 15 points and six helpers. NV was led this season by All-Bay Valley First Team choice Arianna Aguilar, who valiantly scored 36 points in the playoff loss.

15 Los Medanos d. 18 Siskiyous, 77-58: The Mustangs (21-8) raced out to a 28-10 first-quarter lead and never looked back to advance over the Eagles (15-14) in the rubber match of three games they played against one another this season. LMC was paced by Lamiyah Washington with 24 points, four steals and four assists, Eve Monzon's 21 points plus four assists, and 13-point, 7-assist effort by Kendall McClure. Siskiyous was led this season by All-State Third Team Alexes Collier. 

17 Modesto d. 16 Reedley, 70-60: The Pirates (15-14) trailed the Tigers, 31-29, at halftime, then seized control in the second half to win this mild upset. Modesto avenged a 69-60 loss to Reedley in December. MJC got huge contributions from Rayne Tago with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Sienna Muson, who made 8-for-11 from the field as part of her 20 points. Madison Duron added 12 points and nine boards. For Reedley (17-12), Raquel Cortez netted six 3-pointers as part of her 20 points and Taylor Sutherland totaled 17 points and 11 rebounds. 

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA SID