A strong third quarter on Thursday pushed the Hart Hawks girls’ basketball team to the second round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Trailing by one at the half, the Hawks outscored the visiting San Jacinto Tigers 21-8 in the pivotal third frame at Hart High. Senior Andrea Aina was key to that run with four 3-pointers after missing all of her shots from deep in the first half.
“She regrouped. She’s tough,” said Hart head coach Jerry Mike. “She does her thing, and she’s always going to keep shooting and trying and working hard … She’s earned the right to green-light it she wants.”
The Tigers kept it close in the fourth, but the Hawks showed resilience and came away with a 59-52 win to advance to the second round of the Division 2AA playoffs.
Hart is set to travel to South Torrance on Saturday.
Senior Morgan Mack led the way with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. The Long Beach State commit and McDonald’s All-American nominee was constantly attacking the basket and kept the Hawks afloat when shots weren’t falling in the first half, scoring 14 points in the first two periods.
Mack said the lack of shooting proficiency on Thursday is just something that happens sometimes, but that the Hawks did everything else to get the win.
“Sometimes your shots don’t fall,” Mack said. “And luckily, we get to play again on Saturday. So, same thing — defense, keep playing our offense, hopefully they fall earlier, and just keep going out there.”
The Tigers were led by Precious McCauley’s 17 points and Luvlee Sadler’s 16.
Much of the San Jacinto offense came from aggressive drives to the basket and offensive rebounds.
“They were really athletic, physical, so just playing together, and our defense,” Mack said of what it took to overcome the Tigers’ aggressive play.
Hart senior Faith Purfoy hit what Mike thinks was one of the most important shots of the night late in the fourth quarter to put the Hawks up by six. She found the ball in her hands after a deflection near the paint before taking a couple dribbles toward the basket and hitting a floater.
“Faith kind of has a knack for doing some stuff like that,” Mike said. “She makes a play here and there, and they’re usually in important times in the game.”
Purfoy finished with six points while Aina had 16 and Emery Eav had 11.
It’s the first playoff win for the Hawks in two years. Hart went all the way to the Southern Section championship game in the 2022-23 season, a game that went the way of La Salle, before crashing out in the first round last year at the hands of Harvard-Westlake.
Mack said playing at home was a big boon for the Hawks. Hart fans in attendance made sure their voices were heard even as the San Jacinto fans were making noise of their own.
“It’s amazing, especially for girls basketball, just having a crowd, the fans,” Mack said. “Even the opponents, you know, they were a good crowd. And it’s just an amazing atmosphere to be able to play, especially at a home game. You don’t get many, especially as the season ends. So, it was amazing.”
Here’s what else happened in girls’ basketball playoff action on Thursday featuring Santa Clarita Valley teams:
Division 1
San Clemente 80, Valencia 64: The Valencia Vikings, co-champions of the Foothill League along with Hart, saw their season end, 80-64, on the road at San Clemente.
Kamilla Basyrova had 24 points for the Vikings while Cara McKell had 15 and Alexis Epie had 14. Keira McLaughlin added 11 points.
Division 2AA
Dos Pueblos 53, Saugus 49: The Saugus Centurions led by one with a minute and a half to go, but hosts Dos Pueblos came away with a 53-49 win.
Brianna Burroughs and Rachael Correa each had 12 points for Saugus. Jasmine Garcia and EvaMarie Rios each had 10.
Division 2A
Notre Dame Academy 57, Canyon 55: The Canyon Cowboys lost in a nailbiter at home to Notre Dame Academy, 57-55.
Shannen Wilson had 21 points to lead the way for Canyon. Darby Dunn added 17 points.
Segerstrom 48, Trinity 47: The Trinity Classical Academy Knights took a perfect Heritage League campaign on the road in the first round, but Segerstrom ended the Knights’ season with a 48-47 win.
Noa Peña had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Trinity.
Division 4AA
Anaheim 64, SCCS 36: The Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals, second behind Trinity in the Heritage League, fell to Anaheim at home, 64-36.
The Cardinals led 31-30 at one point before Anaheim stormed ahead.
Emily Hackett had 11 points for SCCS while Maya Denison had 10.
It was the first playoff appearance for SCCS since 2020 and the highest division the Cardinals have ever played in, according to head coach Larry Sulham.
