The Hart girls’ basketball team opened the first 15 games of the season with a 4-11 record, including a 1-2 record in Foothill League play.
In the team’s second half of the season, the Lady Hawks finished the year winning eight out of their last 13 games along with clinching their spot into the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs with a 46-33 road victory over the West Ranch Wildcats.
“We set it out from day one that one of our goals for success and finishing in fourth with a 6-6 league record was up there on the board all year,” Hart head coach Zach Koebel said. “The girls really came out all year devoted to getting better every day, and they really came out to play today.”
After the win, Koebel reflected that no matter the disappointing results in the middle of the season, the Lady Hawks (12-16, 6-6) were always committed to finishing the year strong with the goal of making the playoffs.
“It wasn’t so much a switch. It was just that the girls were really committed to each other and getting better every day,” he said. “We didn’t have a bad practice, literally all year. And they cared so much. They care so deeply for each other that they were really just pulling for each other and making each other better every day.”
In the win over West Ranch, the Lady Hawks were led by senior Faith Purfoy, who recorded 16 points in the victory.
Koebel said he was proud of Purfoy and that she ended the regular season with her best performance all year.
“Seniors got to rise, and she rose to the occasion,” he said. “She’s our returning second-team all-leaguer and I thought this was one of her better games all year. But big players play big games, and she really came out today.”
With the win, the Lady Hawks claimed the fourth and final spot in the Foothill League standings for an automatic berth with a 6-6 league record.
As for West Ranch, the Wildcats dropped to 4-8 in league play and fifth in the standings. With the loss, the team now will look to make the playoffs via an at-large bid as they finished the season above .500 with a 19-9 overall record.
Koebel said the team is going to celebrate the win at the moment but as soon as the playoff brackets are released on Saturday, it’s back to the drawing board to sort out how the Lady Hawks can get better.
“We’re just going to go back and get better a little bit every day, getting ready for the playoffs,” he said.
The girls’ basketball playoffs begin on Thursday, Feb. 12.
After Wednesday night’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League:
Valencia 82, Golden Valley 21: The Valencia Vikings (24-4, 12-0) finished the Foothill League season with a perfect 12-0 record, including a win over Golden Valley (12-15, 2-10).
The Lady Vikings will wait to see in which division they’ll be placed with the girls’ basketball playoff brackets are released on Saturday.
Canyon 65, Castaic 10: The Canyon Cowboys (16-12, 8-4) secured the win in the regular-season finale over Castaic (8-18, 0-12).
The Cowboys finish in third in the Foothill League standings and will wait to see in which division they’ll be placed with the girls’ basketball playoff brackets being released on Saturday.
Photos below from Hart’s win over West Ranch:
