Sierra Canyon beats Mater Dei, makes 3rd straight Open final
CHATSWORTH >> Sierra Canyon remains consistent and is heading to its third CIF-SS Open Division championship game in as many years.
The Trailblazers beat Mater Dei 81-61 on Saturday night in a matchup that pitted the Mission League champion and the Trinity League champion against each other.
“It's great just playing with this team,” McDonald's AllAmerican Mackenly Randolph said. “This is our last year, so we're trying to go all the way.”
Sierra Canyon is seeking back-to-back Open Division titles and will play Etiwanda in the championship game on Friday at Cal Baptist University. Etiwanda beat the Trailblazers in the finals in 2022.
“In years past, I would say it doesn't matter (who we play),”
coach Alicia Komaki said. “But we've clearly built ourselves into a rivalry.”
Randolph scored a gamehigh 28 points for Sierra Canyon and Jerzy Robinson wasn't far behind with 21 points. Izela Arenas went on to score 14 points after not getting a single basket in the first quarter.
Mater Dei's Casity Rice had 16 points, Janessa Cotton had 14 points and Amaya Williams chipped in 13 points.
Sierra Canyon saw its early lead slip away midway through the first quarter when Mater Dei's Williams made a midrange jumper and followed up with a 3-pointer for a 10-8 lead.
The Trailblazers were able to tie the game twice more in the final three minutes, but
Mater Dei went on a five-point scoring run for a 17-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Arenas hit a corner 3-pointer within the first two minutes of the second frame and followed up with another three and a layup near the six-minute mark to tie the game at 21-all. A midrange jumper from Robinson put the Trailblazers back in the lead.
“She's one of the best scorers in the country,” Komaki said of Arenas. “There's never a conversation with our kids like, OK, you've gotta do this. We've just gotta let them play.”
The Trailblazers snagged defensive rebounds to limit Mater Dei's second-chance opportunities as the offense slowly came to life after an opening quarter in which the shots weren't falling. Arenas scored eight points in the second to help power Sierra Canyon
to a 37-28 advantage at halftime.
The rebounds slowed for Sierra Canyon in the third quarter, but the Trailblazers pressured and boxed out Mater Dei enough to limit the scoring. Meanwhile, the Trailblazers took off on a 7-0 scoring run in which Robinson dribbled in for a layup and a 43-32 lead.
Mater Dei's Rice sank a 3-pointer with under two minutes in the quarter, but Sierra Canyon hit four 3-pointers in the final eight minutes of the game to walk away with the win.
“They switched up their defense and went into zone,” Randolph said. “We've been playing against zone all year, so we gotta get it inside and get out and find our shooters.”
Sierra Canyon has defeated its open Division opponents by an average of 27 points in this playoff season.