Girls Basketball: Five Valley teams advance to CIF quarterfinals
It was a history-making opening night in the CIF-San Diego Section girls basketball divisional playoffs on Wednesday, February 15, as all the Southeastern Conference teams were involved, with seven in opening round games, and one drawing a bye.
Adding more history to the night, in the CIF Division IV playoffs the Southeastern Conference had four of the top seven teams – including the first, second, and third seeds – all of whom came up with victories.
In all, five teams advanced to Saturday’s CIF quarterfinal round, where they will join the Division I second-seeded Imperial High Tigers. The Tigers advanced via a first-round bye and will host the tenth-seeded Eastlake High of Chula Vista at the Tigers’ gym in Imperial.
In the CIF Division IV girls bracket, the top seeded Palo Verde High Yellow Jackets picked up a 56-23 win over the visiting sixteenth-seeded Orange Glen High Patriots of Escondido, in Blythe.
The Desert League champions and last year’s CIF D-V champion Yellow Jackets were lead by junior Charlotte Dagnino, who scored a game-high 23 points despite sitting out the four quarter.
The CIF D-IV second-seed Central High Spartans picked up 6232 win over the visiting fifteenth-seeded Hilltop High Lancers of Chula Vista at Spartan Arena.
The Central girls game was part of a rare girls and boys CIF playoff, as the Central boys also played on Wednesday night after weather forced the postponing of their CIF game the day previous.
“It was a great team victory win and everyone contributed,” Central girls Coach Jason McClain said. “Moyra Garcia our point guard played well and lead us to victory. ”
Garcia lead Central with 18 points with Mya McClain scored 13 points and Galilea Serrano added eight points to the Spartans’ cause.
The CIF’s D-IV Vincent Memorial Catholic High Scots played a home game in Calexico, prevailing by a score of 57-33, over the fourteenth-seeded Escondido Cougars.
Completing the Division IV dominance, the seven-seed Calipatria Hornets girls squeezed out a 52-50 victory over visiting tenth-seeded Santa Fe Christian High School in a barn-burner in the Hornets’ gym.
Calipatria’s Luna Cervantes hit the game-winning shot for the Hornets and led their attack with 19 points, also adding two steals and two assists.
“We were able to pull off the win at the buzzer, but in the end it came down to our defense that won the game,” said Calipatria first-year Coach Isaiah Spence.
The Hornets received a 14 point and 10 rebound performance from Michelle Trejo, while Marcella Lyerly had eight points, seven rebounds and seven blocks.
By the luck of the bracket draw, Calipatria will travel to Central to take on the Spartans in a quarterfinal game slated for Saturday night, February 18, at the Spartan Gym at 7 p.m.
On Wednesday night in the Division V girls action, El Centro’s twelfth-seeded Southwest Eagles under Coach Nelly Sullivan defeated the fifth-seeded Cambridge School Griffins by a score of 39-23 in Rancho Santa Fe.
In Division III action, the sixth-seeded Calexico High Bulldogs host the eleventh-seeded West Hills High Wolfpack of Santee, defeating the visitors by a score of 48-28.
“Big win; we came out with good energy and the attitude that it’s the playoffs and anything can happen,”
Calexico Coach Amanda Bresino said. “I told them they could only control what they do, what attitude they bring, and we jumped out to the early lead and kept (them) from coming back and controlled
the game.”
For the Bulldogs, Mia Borboa lead the offense with 15 points while adding eight rebounds and four blocks. The ‘dogs Cecilia Costa had eight points and Valeria Viveros also added seven points.
The ninth-seeded Division I Holtville
Viking girls basketball team traveled Wednesday night to face the eighth-seeded San Marcos High Knights, with Holtville losing by a score of 59-33.
For Holtville (16-12) – finishing second in the IVL with a 6-2 record – it was the first ever playoff appearance in
D-I by a Vikings team, a fact not lost on senior Skylar Hanson, who led the Vikes with 12 points.
“We knew coming in that it was D-I and that all the teams would be tough, but we were proud to be here and had worked hard to get to this position,”
Hanson said. “Normally we take a selfie of the team after a win but tonight, because of this being a first, we took a team-selfie anyway because we are so proud.”
Traveling to El Cajon for a CIF D-III game against the second-seed Granite Hills High Eagles, the fifteenth-seed
ed Brawley High Wildcats fell by a score of 50-31.
Brawley’s top scorers were junior Jaelyn Salceda with nine points and sophomore Breanna Montano, while another sophomore, Diana Ortiz, grabbed eight rebounds for the Wildcats.