Palomar, Big 8 trio, host Mt. SAC advance to women's basketball state tourney

The Round 3C2A Women's Basketball Regional Finals produced one true nailbiter and it was SoCal #6 Palomar's upset over #3 Moorpark on Saturday night.

The Comets trailed by 49-44 in the final few minutes, but Kylie Trujillo shocked the Raiders gym, sinking a 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds left for a 50-49 victory.

Palomar joins 2-time defending state champ and South #1 Orange Coast, tourney host and #2 Mt. San Antonio, and #4 Glendale from the South while the Big 8 came up big with #2 San Joaquin Delta, #3 Sierra and #5 Folsom Lake all joining still undefeated #1 Sequoias as regional finals winners.

Moorpark led Palomar, 14-7, after one quarter and built it to 20-7 in a 13-0 run as the Comets went scoreless for nearly a 7-minute stretch. Palomar went cold again as the Raiders led 25-12 with less than three minutes to go in the half. The Comets cut it to 27-18 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, Brooke Quintana hit two free throws that sliced it to 36-35 going into the final 10 minutes. Palomar briefly took the lead, but All-State First Team guard Mika Jarrett, who scored a game-high 25 points, drilled a jumper to regain the Raiders advantage at 45-44. Mayleni Tolliver hit a basket and two free throws that extended the lead to five with 3:20 to go.

Palomar responded on a Trujillo layup and cut it to two at 49-47 and the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year and All-State Second Team perfomer proved her worth by swishing the game-winning trey. Moorpark had one last chance, but Jarrett's 10-foot bank was off mark at the buzzer.

Trujillo and Angelina De Leon each scored 13 points and Teanna Alaman added 11 points to pace the Comets (24-6). Besides Jarrett scoring more than half of MC's points, Marianne Boco contributed nine points and three steals for the Raiders (25-5), who saw an 18-game win streak snapped. Palomar extended its win streak to 16.

In other regional finals:

NORTH

N1 Sequoias 63, N8 Fresno City 47: The Giants (30-0) stayed undefeated but not without a battle from fellow Central Valley Conference foe the Rams. FCC (20-10) led 5-0, 21-20 and only trailed by one at the half, 25-24. COS led 28-26, then ran off a 17-7 spurt to take control by the end of the third quarter, neve letting Fresno to rally again.

All-State First Teamer Morgan Trigueiro led Sequoias on 18 points plus five assists while NorCal State Player of the Year Jocelyn Medina added 15 points, 11 rebounds, and five helpers. Kaitlin Giacone chipped in 10 points. Fresno was paced by All-State Third Team selection T'Yanna Armstrong with 16 points, Ciena Tumoine scoring 12, and Devin Miller tallying eight points, 10 rebounds and three steals. 

N2 San Joaquiin Delta 86, N7 CC San Francisco 56: The Mustangs (22-8)punched their 15th trip to the state tourney under Coach Gina Johnson's leadership with a 30-point rout over the Rams. All-State Third Team choice Fajr Cuthbertson led four players in double figures with 21 points, followed by Aaliyah Youngblood's 13, Destiny Nichols with 12 (5-for-6 from the field) and Isabella Azzolino netting 11.

Anyce Jefferson was a defensive force making seven steals to go with eight points and eight rebounds. For CCSF (19-9), two-Time All-State player Madison Thomas finished her community college career in the defeat.

N3 Sierra 73, N6 Laney 61: The Wolverines (25-4) used 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists by Donnelli Allen, who drained four 3-pointers, to get past the Eagles (26-4) to reach the state tourney. Mikayla Bumgarner added 13 points and 14 rebounds, Dibora Leaf poured in 19 points (four 3s) off the bench and 2-time, All-State player Katie Leeth did some more heavy lifting with 15 rebounds, five blocks and five points.

For Laney, All-State First Teamer Leniyah Fulsome scored 14 points (plus eight boards and five steals), Nomen Iselen collected 12 points while both Madison Hill and Milan Jackson each scored 11. 

Dibora Leaf makes a shot in regional finals win (photo by Brian Kimoto)

N5 Folsom Lake 78, N4 San Jose City 53: The Falcons (25-5) jumped ahead with an impressive first quarter, outscoring the host Jaguars, 35-14, to run away in the regional finals win. Lexi Peters hit four 3-pointers as part of her 16 points plus four assists and three steals, All-State Third Teamer Athena Brombacher posted 14 points and 11 rebounds, Jasmine Clee added 12 points and nine boards, and Ursula Chen chipped in 10 points and four steals.

For SJCC (27-3) which saw its 24-game win streak broken, Synise Byrd scored 15, Alyssa Malla 13, All-State First Team selection Tatiana Collazo was limited to 12, and Hayley Johnson had 10.

SOUTH

S1 Orange Coast 86, S8 Cerro Coso 36: The Pirates (25-5) started out slow as the Coyotes led early 11-6, but OCC went on an epic 20-0 run and easily advanced to defend their last two consecutive state championships. The Pirates limited the state's third-highest scoring team to a season low and were led by Hailey Estrada, who scored 29 points on sharp shooting from the floor (9-for-14) and at the line (nine made) while dishing out nine assists and making five steals. 

Melaiah Joseph added 20 points and eight boards, Zoei Lamkin 14 points, All-State First Team center Alyssa Dreesen tallied 10 points and nine rebounds, and All-State Second Teamer Myia Collins notched 12 rebounds, six assists and six points. For Cerro Coso (24-6), All-State Second Team guard Shaniyah McCarthy was the team's only double-digit scorer on 16 points plus seven rebounds and Lia Sims scored eight. 

S2 Mt. San Antonio 63, S10 Grossmont 42: The Mounties lost out on a chance to be at its home gym for the Elite Eight last season in a regional finals upset loss to Long Beach CC, so they were determined to reach it this year and did so by defeating the pesky Griffins. 

Mt. SAC (26-4) won its 11th straight but trailed 14-13 and then led just 25-24 before Elizabeth Udeze capped a 10-run for an 11-point halftime lead. The Mounties defense took care of the rest as Grossmont scored just 18 points in the second half. Two-time SoCal State Player of the Year Daisia Mitchell and Alana Diaz (7-for-8 from the field) each scored 15 points. All-State First Team choice Taliyah McFerson posted a double-double on 13 points and 14 rebounds. 

Grossmont (24-6) once again was led by All-State Third Team guard Anayla Anderson, who delivered 16 points (perfect 8-for-8 at the line) with four assists and three steals, and Kyla Palpallatoc with 13 points. 

S4 Glendale 55, S5 Cypress 50: The Vaqueros make a return trip to state but had some hurdles to get by the feisty Chargers. Glendale led 20-7, before Cypress rallied to tie it by halftime, 28-28. In the third period. Shushan Krikorian nailed a big 3-pointer with 27 seconds left for a 40-32 Glendale lead. The Vaqueros enlarged the advantage to 13, but Cypress roared back again to cut it to one, 51-50, on a layup by Mariah Henderson. Glendale made four free throws in the final minue to ice the victory.

For Glendale (25-4), Sammy Velasquez made 4 treys as part of her 16 points, Krikorian buried 15, 2-time All-State guard Malia Ulery scored 12 points with five assists, and All-State First Team post player Shadel Ffrench grabbed 19 rebounds, made three steals and two blocks while adding six points. 

For Cypress (21-9), Henderson scored 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds off the bench and Chelsea Caldera tallied 11 points and passed out four assists.

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA Publicist