Check here for instant analysis, individual highlights and more from CIF Open Division girls games played on the night of Wednesday, Feb. 27. All information gained from Twitter reports.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Salesian (Richmond) 55, St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) 47
USC-bound Angel Jackson pulled down 15 rebounds and blocked seven shots to go with 10 points as The Pride (22-8, No. 10 in state) gained separation in the final minutes. St. Joe (22-8, No. 14 in state) was down by only 39-37 entering the final quarter. Malia Mastora, a sophomore and one of several top players returning next season, had 14 points for the Pilots. Salesian will now face No. 1 seed and No. 1 in state Archbishop Mitty of San Jose (25-2) in Saturday’s regional semifinals. The Monarchs had a bye on Wednesday.
Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 79, St. Mary’s (Stockton) 47
There was no upset returned by the Rams as the Panthers played like one of the top teams in the state with an easy win. Pinewood (25-3, No. 8 in state) has upset St. Mary’s in two recent seasons, including last year in Stockton in the regional semifinals. Senior guard Kaitlyn Leung had a career-high 23 points for Pinewood while Stanford-bound Hannah Jump double-doubled with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Panthers will now play No. 2 seed and state No. 7 Carondelet of Concord (26-4) in the next round. Carondelet, which had a bye on Wednesday, won earlier at home on the same week in which the Panthers were ranked No. 1 in the state for the first time in program history.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Clovis West (Fresno) 61, Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 55
Perhaps taking a cueue from the school’s boys team, which had a 20-point rally for a section semifinal playoff win last week, the Golden Eagles (28-3, No. 2 in state) came back from being behind 35-15 at halftime and 47-32 entering the fourth quarter to stun the Seahawks. Both Maddie Campbell and Aari Sanders knocked down 18 points in the second half to spark the resurgence. Redondo wrapped up a 24-6 season and was No. 11 in the state this week.
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 54, Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) 48
It will be the Monarchs (28-4, No. 6 in state) taking the trip on Saturday to play Clovis West in Saturday’s regional semifinals. The Orange County Register gave great credit to the play of role player DeJanae Perry (12 points) in keying the victory. The team’s top scorer was sophomore Brooke Demetre with 13 points. The host Knights, playing the game at El Camino College, ended 23-7 and will have to drop from their No. 5 state ranking.
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 59, Clovis North (Fresno) 41
Alexis Mark topped the Trailblazers (30-1, No. 4 in state) as they took control after only leading by 12-10 at the first quarter break. Both teams should be among the state’s very best next season with a lot of returning players. Clovis North finished 24-5 and was No. 12 in the state this week.
Windward (Los Angeles) 54, Etiwanda 42
The Wildcats (26-5), who moved up to No. 3 in the state this week, did their part to set up the third game of the season with league rival Sierra Canyon in the regional semifinals on Saturday. It will be the rubber match as the Trailblazers won in the league showdown, but it was Windward that prevailed in last Saturday’s CIFSS Open Division championship. Etiwanda capped off its season at 26-6. The Eagles were No. 9 in the state this week and likely will stay in the 8 to 10 range all the way through the final rankings.
