YORBA LINDA — The Corona del Mar girls basketball team used clutch free-throw shooting and stout defense to hold off Yorba Linda for a 38-31 victory Thursday night in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2A playoffs.
Kayly Honig scored 13 points and Sawyer Blumenkranz added 12 points to help the Sea Kings advance to the second round. They will host No. 3 Chino on Saturday.
“Overall, we’re just happy to get the win, on the road, against a good team,” Corona del Mar coach Brason Alexander said. “They’re way better than their record. They’ve played nothing but good teams, well coached and they play so many kids that play hard. They really keep the pressure on you, but I’m super excited for our kids.”
Honig went 7 of 9 from the line, including 4 of 4 in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.
The senior point-center also had a nice assist to Alexa Rokos for the Sea Kings’ only field goal of the fourth quarter.
“She’s been a rock for us all year,” Alexander said of Honig. “She’s really good at positioning and moving herself, but we ask a lot of her, so it’s kind of like playing point-center but she’s been so tough inside and the girls found her.”
Alexander also praised Blumenkranz for her performance, especially her ability to get to the basket.
“For a sophomore point guard, who was a 2-guard, I thought she was excellent,” he said. “When she gets downhill she’s tough, she’s shifty, she’s got this weird array of shots. It’s a little bit old school with the angles she likes.”
Blumenkranz scored 10 of her 12 points in the second and third quarters with most shots coming near the basket.
Kelsey Ikemoto was the only Mustangs player to finish in double figures with a team-high 13 points.
Yorba Linda trailed 30-25 entering the fourth quarter and, despite getting some decent looks, they were only able to muster up six points in the decisive frame.
Ikemoto scored all six of those points as the Mustangs’ comeback attempt fell short.
The Sea Kings shot 19 free throws to Yorba Linda’s 7, a stat that Yorba Linda coach Teiko Ikemoto could not ignore.
“Despite the foul trouble we went out there, we’re pressuring, scrambling,” Teiko Ikemoto said. “They got the good looks but it’s tough when you’re driving in and you’re not getting the calls that they were getting down there.”
Yorba Linda’s Serina Patel chipped in six points but was plagued by foul trouble most of the night and fouled out.
Teiko Ikemoto was hoping for a victory to set up a rematch with Chino, which the Mustangs played earlier this season.
“We played Chino without Serina and Kelsey,” Ikemoto said of their first meeting against the Cowboys. “I wish the seniors could’ve had one more game, and that’s my UCLA teammate.”
Ikemoto and Chino coach Sandra Van Embricqs were Bruins teammates in the late 1980s.
“I liked our chances there but we needed to get by this team first,” Ikemoto said.
Meanwhile, Alexander is looking for some redemption after last year’s season-ending loss to Chino.
The Sea Kings lost to Chino 61-18 last year in the first round of the Division 2A playoffs and are hoping for a different result this postseason.
“They gave us a butt kicking last year at their place,” Alexander said, “so they’re going to have to come to our place and we’re looking forward to it, but they’re good.”
LOS ANGELES — Juju Watkins approached teammate Clarice Akunwafo after UCLA rattled off a 10-0 scoring run to close the first half. Akunwafo was guarding 6-foot-7 Bruins center Lauren Betts, who had scored nine points in the second quarter.
“Ju came up to me and said, ‘She’s going to score. She’s a great player. But I’ve got your back,’” Akunwafo recalled. “And she did have my back.”
Both the USC and UCLA women’s basketball teams were tasked with guarding players who are often unguardable. For the Trojans, that meant neutralizing Betts. For the Bruins, Watkins was the one.
USC cracked the code on Betts by choosing the right moments for one-on-one battles and knowing when to send in a double-team, which helped the sixth-ranked Trojans (22-2 overall, 12-1 Big Ten) secure a 71-60 victory, handing the top-ranked Bruins (23-1, 11-1) their first loss of the season.
Akunwafo and Kiki Iriafen went up against Betts in the post, but what was happening away from that action was just as important.
“I do my best to shield her and play great post defense,” Akunwafo told reporters, “but honestly the biggest thing is ball pressure and the guards do a great job of being involved. So even if – let’s say one second Betts is open, they can’t pass to her because the ball pressure.”
The Trojans additionally deployed Watkins, who had a career-best eight blocked shots, when that wasn’t enough. Betts still managed to score 18 points, which is slightly below her season average of 19.6 per game.
“I’ve got to be better, period,” Betts said. “I think towards the end, I was just forcing a lot of tough shots. I’ve got to be better for my team, so I think just getting deeper seals. And I know how to do that.”
Students had waited outside Galen Center since 1:30 in the afternoon to secure spots to watch the offensive show that Watkins put on. She glided around defenders, slipping into overlooked corners for catch-and-shoot opportunities to finish the game with 38 points.
UCLA used its grittiest defenders against Watkins, starting with Gabriela Jaquez – who didn’t utter the name of USC or any of its players when she addressed reporters earlier in the week.
Janiah Barker tried her hand next, midway through the opening quarter. The 6-4 forward asserted her dominance by throwing down a dunk during warm-ups, but she couldn’t follow that with a defensive performance strong enough to contain Watkins.
Londynn Jones came in and helped hold her to just five points in the third quarter, despite standing nearly a foot shorter.
“We had Londynn Jones just got right up underneath her,” said UCLA head coach Cori Close, whose team turned it over 20 times. “When we didn’t get rebounds and didn’t get quality shots, then they started getting out in transition and then it was hard for us to set our defense.”
Watkins stayed hot on both sides of the court and her teammates followed suit on defense. Kennedy Smith went head-to-head with Kiki Rice and only allowed her to score two points in the third frame.
Smith stood in front of Rice at midcourt, clapping her hands while holding eye contact with the point guard.
“She really gives us the energy that we need on defense,” Watkins said of Smith. “She rattles the other players so much to where their minds are scrambled.”
Smith only scored four points and Akunwafo had none. The spotlight wasn’t on their stats, but they forcefully brought attention to USC’s defense.
“‘C’ makes (Betts) work to get to spots. But then she also can get deflections and get around to make it tough without lunging and giving her something easy,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.
“We’ve seen it for a couple years now and it’s just as important as any other piece of our team and our accountability. She stays ready for when her name is called.”
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Santa Margarita’s girls basketball team had to rely on contributions from unexpected places in its 56-47 win over Redondo in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs Thursday.
The team’s top scorer was sophomore Bella Emanuel, who had 14 points off the bench and made 4 of 5 3-point attempts.
“She’s a coaches’ dream,” Santa Margarita coach Seyram Bell said of Emanuel. “She works hard, does whatever she is asked and she’s a great teammate. When her name is called, she is ready for whatever the assignment is and today it was to knock down 3s.”
“It was awesome,” Emanuel said. “It feels like a rush I can’t describe.”
The Eagles (18-10) will host Harvard-Westlake in the second round Saturday.
Santa Margarita had to play much of the game without its primary ball handler, Madi Lam, who had four fouls early in the second half and fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
Lam managed to score seven points and dish out five assists in limited playing time, but the Eagles had to count on freshman Katie Wang and sophomore Taylor Black to bring the ball up court.
“Kudos to the team for adapting and adjusting,” Bell said. “It goes to show that we have enough trust in each other to know that when someone is down, we can pick up the slack.”
Wang had two steals on defense and scored all seven of her points in the second half. Black also had two steals, scored five points and grabbed five rebounds.
Redondo (16-13) made its first four field goals of the game and had a lead at the end of the first quarter. The Sea Hawks trailed by 13 points in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to six, but couldn’t score in the final minute.
Abby Zimmerman had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Redondo and Ava Gomez had 13 points.
Santa Margarita gave up some baskets inside to Zimmerman, but limited Redondo to 2-of-10 shooting on 3-pointers.
“We scouted them well and understood the actions that they were trying to look for,” Bell said.
Grace Anderson had 11 points for Santa Margarita and added six rebounds. The Eagles went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter with six points from Jennea Holmes and a 3-pointer from Emanuel.
Santa Margarita finished in fourth place in the Trinity League standings and entered the playoffs on a three-game losing streak.
“The girls have been putting in so much work,” Bell said. “Them being able to refocus, regroup and play hard for each other, it’s a good feeling.
Santa Margarita was No. 21 in the final CIF-SS rankings and Redondo was No. 29.
The Sea Hawks were the third-place team from the Bay League.
Harvard-Westlake is the No. 12 team in the CIF-SS rankings but lost to Redondo on Dec. 3.
IRVINE — The inbounds play was drawn up for UC Irvine guard Justin Hohn to get a potential game-winning 3-point shot, but then Myles Che locked eyes with Devin Tillis.
Che decided to loft a pass from the baseline to the opposite side of the rim, where Tillis leaped in the air and shoved the ball toward the basket just before time expired.
The ball bounced on the rim and off the backboard before falling through the hoop, lifting the Anteaters to a 62-60 victory over UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Conference thriller on Thursday night at the Bren Events Center.
The win kept UCI (21-4 overall, 11-2 Big West) tied atop the conference standings with UC San Diego (21-4, 11-2).
“Myles looked at me and we kind of just knew,” Tillis said of the game-winning play. “And then it was just fireworks from there.”
Tillis scored the final six points for UCI and 22 in all.
Che was the only other player to score in double figures for the Anteaters, finishing with 13 points.
“We won tonight, that’s important,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “Now, we’ve got a difficult assignment to catch a flight (Friday) morning, fly to Hawaii and play them over there on Saturday night.”
UCSB (16-9, 8-6) came into the game as the eighth-best 3-point shooting team in the country at 39.4%, and with the leading 3-point shooter in the nation in Cole Anderson (53.9%).
The Gauchos shot 8 for 24 (33.3%) from behind the arc, while Anderson missed all four of his tries from long range and scored two points.
Stephan Swenson led the Gauchos with 18 points and Kenny Pohto contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“They outplayed us in the last 10 minutes of the game,” Turner said of UCSB. “They outrebounded us, they outworked us, they looked like they were hungrier to beat us than we were to beat them.”
The Anteaters took their biggest lead of the game at 51-40 on two free throws by Che after a technical foul on UCSB coach Joe Pasternack with 10:08 left.
That’s when the Gauchos started to get hot from the perimeter, making three 3-pointers in a row during a 9-0 run that cut the lead to two points with 8:05 left.
UCI, which came in fifth in the nation in free-throw shooting (80.8%), missed four of five free throws in a 5-minute stretch of the second half that prevented the Anteaters from expanding their lead.
The Gauchos hurt their chances at the line as well, missing the front end of two one-and-one situations in the final minutes.
Swenson hit a step-back 3-pointer to give UCSB a 58-56 lead with 2:26 left, but Tillis scored on back-to-back post moves to move the Anteaters back ahead 60-58 with 1:08 remaining.
Swenson scored on a drive with 29 seconds left to tie it at 60-all after the Gauchos had grabbed an offensive rebound.
The ball then went out of bounds with 6.5 seconds left and, after a long review, the ball was awarded to UCI. The ball was then knocked out of bounds again with 0.6 seconds left, setting up the winning inbounds play.
“A lot of people will credit the shot that won that game, but it was the pass that won the game,” Turner said.
Tillis was a big reason the Anteaters took a 32-31 lead into halftime after the senior forward shot 6 for 8 from the field (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and made the only 3-pointers UCI converted in the first half.
UCSB took its biggest lead of the first half at 16-10, but the Anteaters came back with a 7-0 run capped by Tillis’ first 3-pointer.
UCI strung together another 7-0 run to take its biggest lead of the first half at 24-21, but the Gauchos answered with seven straight points of their own to move back ahead 28-24.
Kyle Evans scored inside with 1:25 left in the half to move the Anteaters back ahead 32-30.
Hohn, who came in averaging 12 points, went scoreless in the first half after missing all four of his field goal attempts. He finished with eight points.
“Having that edge every night is something we have to keep,” Tillis said. “Being able to share the ball and play together, we’ll come out on top.”
IRVINE — The CIF-SS Division 1 first-round girls basketball game between Orange Lutheran and Crean Lutheran on Thursday wasn’t always pretty, as both teams missed their share of shots.
But the Saints won the rebounding battle on both ends of the court and scored on two well-executed offensive plays late in the fourth quarter to earn a 44-39 victory at Crean Lutheran High School.
“Our goal tonight was to hold them under 40,” Crean Lutheran coach Kyle Rouse said. “We did it by one point. So, it counts, I guess.”
Crean Lutheran players celebrate their 44-39 win following a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran and Orange Lutheran players battle for a loose ball during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game between the two teams on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran small forward Olivia Talean shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Micaela Hanning drives to the basket during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran point guard Lexi Joko drives to the basket during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Jane Hewitt shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran point guard Lexi Joko shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Jane Hewitt shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Micaela Hanning drives to the basket during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran forward Jordyn Norwood shoots the ball during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Jane Hewitt shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Jane Hewitt shoots the ball during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran small forward Olivia Talean shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran small forward Olivia Talean shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Crean Lutheran guard Jane Hewitt brings the ball up the court during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran small forward Olivia Talean shoots the ball during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran shooting guard Emalynn Vong shoots the ball during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran small forward Olivia Talean shoots a layup during a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Crean Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
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Crean Lutheran players celebrate their 44-39 win following a first round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff game against Orange Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
The Saints (23-5), who are ranked No. 7 in Orange County, will play Ventura in a second-round game Saturday at Ventura High. Ventura defeated Thousand Oaks, 63-40, in a first-round game.
The Saints led the No. 8 Lancers 20-18 in a low-scoring first half.
Crean Lutheran was able to create some separation in the third quarter, holding the Lancers (13-12) to a single basket from the field and two made free throws.
Baskets from Micaela Hanning and Stacy Echtenkamp in the opening minutes of the fourth gave the Saints a 34-23 lead.
The Lancers got within seven on consecutive baskets from Olivia Taleon.
Echtenkamp then made a perfect high-low bounce pass to Sydnee Norwood, who scored on an easy layup to put the Saints back up by nine with three minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
Then the Lancers scored eight points in a 30-second span to make it a one-score game.
The Lancers’ Kayla Watanabe hit a 3-pointer and the Lancers stole the inbound pass.
Watanabe was fouled and made both free throws.
Then the Lancers stole the inbound pass again and Kelly Garrity hit a 3-pointer to get the Lancers to within three at 38-35 with 1:25 remaining.
Crean Lutheran ran down the clock to just over one minute on the ensuing possession. The Lancers missed a shot but Jordyn Norwood grabbed the offensive rebound.
After a timeout, Sydnee Norwood hit a layup on an identical play as the one she scored on minutes earlier, this time taking a high-low pass from Jane Hewitt.
“For the shots that I made, I just owe it all to my teammates,” Sydnee Norwood said. “They were great passes and they made the correct decision because I was open on the bottom.”
Sydnee Norwood’s basket put the Saints up, 42-39, with 4.9 seconds left.
Hanning was then fouled and hit one of two free throws to clinch the victory.
Taleon led the Lancers with 10 points. Garrity scored nine, including five in the fourth quarter.
“I think what was different was they rebounded more and I felt like we played a lot more defense than they did,” Garrity said of her Lancers teammates. “We shot it, and it was one and done and we were already back on defense. So that’s kind of hard to set up our offense. I think in the beginning we started off so slow because our offense we just couldn’t run anything.”