Four Top Seeds Advance With Women's Basketball Regional Final Victories
COMPLETED BRACKETS: SOUTH | NORTH
The state's top four-ranked women's basketball teams from the regular season--#1 Mt. San Antonio, #2 San Joaquin Delta, #3 Folsom Lake, and #4 Irvine Valley--all punched their tickets to the 3C2A State Championships with victories in the Regional Finals on Saturday.
For defending state champ Mt. SAC, Delta and Folsom Lake, it's a repeat trip to the state tourney while IVC, MiraCosta, Cypress, Laney and Fresno City all also joined the big dance that is scheduled for March 12, 14-15 at College of the Sequoias.
The biggest mild upset was performed by South #6 seed Cypress in knocking off #3 Moorpark, 66-55. The Chargers (23-7) led just 27-25 in the second quarter, but went on a 10-2 run to end the first half ahead 37-27. In the third quarter, Cypress sizzled from long range, sinking 5-for-6 on treys, two by All-State First Team Christaesha Jackson that upped the lead to 19 points, 58-39.
Moorpark never threatened as the Chargers closed out the win as All-State Third Team Mariah Henderson poured in 20 points, Marina Leyva hit four 3-pointers as part of her 18 points, Marina Interiano tallied 11 and nine rebounds, and Kaylene Vivo dished out 10 assists with five points. Jackson scored all eight of her points in the third period. Cypress was on fire from beyond the 3-point arc, making 11-of-17 shots (65 percent).
Moorpark (26-4) saw a 15-game win streak snapped despite a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds by All-State Second Team Hannah Lising and 11 points and five steals by Alyssa Saldana.
3C2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
Thursday, March 12
Quarterfinals--times TBA
S3 MiraCosta v. N2 Folsom Lake
N3 Laney v. S2 Irvine Valley
N4 Fresno City v. S1 Mt. San Antonio
S4 Cypress v. N1 San Joaquin Delta
Saturday, March 14
Semifinals
Quarterfinal winners
Sunday, March 15
Championship Final
SOUTH REGIONAL FINALS RECAPS
1 Mt. San Antonio (29-1) d. 9 Saddleback (22-9), 67-51: The Mounties ran their win streak to 22 games as they established complete control in outscoring the Bobcats, 18-4, after one quarter on their way to the Round 3 triumph. All-State Third Team Dylan Tse scored 20 points, making 8-for-10 from the free throw line, All-State First Team Elizabeth Udeze was solid all-around in recording 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals while SoCal Player of the Year Taliyah McFerson contributed 11 points.
For Saddleback, Kalynne Mendez scored 13 points, All-State Third Team Kassidy Beach posted 12 and 11 rebounds, and Makayla Rutledge added 12 points.
2 Irvine Valley (26-4) d. 23 Fullerton (15-16), 46-39: The #23 Cinderalla Hornets led 8-6 after one quarter, but the Lasers used a 20-3 second period to go on to win a defensive battle in the third meeting between the Orange Empire Conference foes. IVC had beaten FC by 27 and 24 point margins in OEC play, but the Hornets kept it close, down 32-27 late in the third quarter. After IVC upped it to 10, FC again fought back to shred it to 41-37 on a pair of free throws by Erin Choi with 2:21 left.
The Lasers had played in several tight, low-scoring contests in the regular season and that experience paid off as Kivonni Williams sank four of the team's six free throws in the final minute that sealed the Round 3 victory. It was Williams' only points of the contest while contributing 11 rebounds.
Neryah Lokeni was the lone Laser in double digits scoring with 12 points and eight rebounds while the All-State tandem of Symantha Barnett and Alexis Price combined for just 17 points. FC was paced by Choi, who scored 13 points, and Hailey Lakey on eight and eight rebounds. Fullerton, a team that wasn't even ranked in the State Top 25, clipped both higher seeds in #10 Santa Barbara City and #7 Mt. San Jacinto before seeing its playoff run end here. Irvine Valley takes a 7-game win streak into the state tourney and returns to state for the first time since 2022.
5 MiraCosta (29-1) d. 13 LA Trade Tech (21-10), 54-49: The Spartans are going to state for the first time in their women's hoops' history by holding off a tough Beavers squad. LATT came out of the gate to take an 11-4 lead after one quarter, but MCC roared back to take a 24-19 lead into halftime. The Spartans built the lead to as much as 18 points and looked comfortabe up by 14 with six minutes left. Trade-Tech responded, cutting it to 51-47 on an Erin Jackson layup with 50 seconds remaining.
But MiraCosta's All-State First Team Anayla Anderson hit a layup and two free throws in the final seconds to seal the Round 3 win. Anderson, who was an All-State performer at Grossmont as a freshman, finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals as the lone Spartan to reach double figures in scoring. Kyla Palpallatoc added eight points. LATT was led by Athieng Bol, like Anderson an All-State transfer after earning that honor at Antelope Valley as a freshman, who scored 23 points, and Jackson, who tallied 13, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.
NORTH REGIONAL FINALS RECAPS
1 San Joaquin Delta (25-5) d. 8 Sequoias (18-12), 67-61: The Mustangs were tested by the red-hot Giants by win the Round 3 playoff and ended a 9-game win streak by COS. Delta stretched its win string to 10 and avenged a 63-47 loss to COS back on Dec. 6. Sequoias took a 16-14 lead after one quarter thanks to a 3-pointer by Isabel Mendez. Mendez would make two free throws that kept the squads tied 30-30 at halftime.
A rebound and short put-back jumper by La Ne'Dunn gave Delta some breathing room at 44-38 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Sequoias fought back and tied it at 51-51 on a 3-pointer by Sydney Chesnut with six minutes to go. With 3:50 left, All-State Second Team Fajr Cuthbertston drove the lane for a layup that gave Delta a 57-54 lead. COS' Maya McNeal knotted it again at 57-57 following back-to-back rebound and misses with the third the charm for the basket. Dunn's turnaround jumper put Delta back up by two with 2:40 to go.
The Giants again tied it at 59-59 with a turnaround jumper of their own by Demi Boykin, but with 1:16 remaining it was All-State First Team Aailyah Youngblood's drive for a basket that was the difference at 61-59. She made two of the team's five free throws that closed it out. Youngblood finished with 22 points (8-for-11 at the line), Dunn had 14 and 14 rebounds, and Cuthbertson 13 points. Delta makes its third consecutive trip to the state tourney.
2 Folsom Lake (28-2) d. 7 CC San Francisco (23-6), 82-56: The Falcons carry a 10-game win streak into its third straight trip to the state tourney with the largest margin of victory in any of the eight regional finals by 26 points over the Rams. FLC made a statement early as a fast-break basket by All-State Third Team Nyah Fortune gave it an 18-2 lead with 3:11 left in the first quarter.
A free throw by All-State Second Team Patriceia Walsh sliced into that big lead, cut to 36-28 by halftime. In the opening minute of the third quarter, All-State First Team Jada Tupou scored seven of her team-high 22 points that made it 43-30. June Lumumba cut to eight again at 53-45 with a layup. The Falcons' Ursula Chen sank a corner trey that capped a 12-0 spurt as FLC led 67-49 going into the fourth quarter. CCSF, which had a 5-game win streak stopped, never threatened in the last 10 minutes.
Fortune netted 18 points and All-State First Team Lexi Peters added 13 points.
3 Laney (25-3) d. 6 Butte (23-6), 67-56: The Eagles take a 21-game win streak into the state tourney in outscoring the Roadrunners, 35-20, in the middle quarters. All-State Third Team Ashanti Dias led Laney with 21 points (9-for-10 on free throws) plus four steals while Gianna Ghio was 8-for-14 from the field as part of her 18 points. All-State Third Team Erinn Gardere added 14 points. Butte saw a 5-game win streak end along with its season after being tied with Laney 14-14 through the first 10 minutes of play. Butte was led by All-State Second Team Marissa Elizadle.
4 Fresno City (23-7) d. 5 Santa Rosa JC (24-6), 66-48: The Rams prevented the Bear Cubs from becoming the third Big 8 team to make it to state and avenged a 62-45 loss to SRJC back on Nov. 1. Fresno is making its first trip to the Elite Eight since 2018 with a 5-game win streak. Kayla Silva's short jumper gave FCC a 15-12, first-quarter lead. After the teams traded leads, Kaia Eubanks hit a jump shot that put SRJC within one, 25-24, but FCC's All-State Second Team Alyssa Kem hit a layup for a 28-24 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Jaelyn Bordeau's 3-point bomb upped the Rams' lead to 42-34. Bordeau swished another 3-pointer at the period buzzer that made it 48-36. In the fourth while Santa Rosa was cold from the field, Allie Madron nailed another long-range trey as Fresno built a 55-38 advantage. SRJC couldn't rally and saw a 6-game win streak stopped as NorCal Player of the Year Jordan Washington and her team's playoff run end as well.
It was outstanding shooting by Fresno, including 8-for-8 from the line by Kem, who scored 15 points and passed out five assists, that helped it move on. The Rams were 13-for-13 from the stripe and added a solid 9-of-23 from long range. Seven of Fresno's triples were by reserves, led by Silva's 13 points and three 3-pointers. Sara Shein added 11 points (5-for-10 FGs) and FCC shot 43.1 percent from the field.
Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA SID