Going into the fourth quarter of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division 9 quarterfinals matchup against the vising Vista Del Lago Ravens of Moreno Valley, the Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals were losing, 32-26.
But after a 13-9 scoring run, the Cardinals cut the Ravens’ led to 41-39 with 50 seconds left in the game following a Cardinals’ Miranda Zuniga 3-pointer.
Despite the attempted comeback, the Ravens held on to the lead for the win, 41-39, and eliminated Santa Clarita Christian from the playoffs.
“It’s a tough loss because we played hard and we came back,” SCCS head coach Larry Sulham said. “We’re still young, we’re all freshmen, and sophomores, and one senior and we just made a lot of mistakes that freshmen and sophomores make.”
Despite the loss, Sulham isn’t letting the defeat overshadow the experience his young group got to learn over the course of the postseason.
In the first round, the Cardinals defeated the Webb Gauls of Claremont, and in the second round, won by double digits over the Victory Valley Christian Royals of Victorville.
With the two playoff wins, Sulham is proud of the effort his group displayed and believes it will provide valuable lessons for the future.
“The girls have worked hard, made it to the quarterfinals this year. I just congratulate them for a good season, some tough play from a lot of girls that never played basketball before,” he said. “So, to get this exposure and play a tough game in the quarterfinals, they’ll learn from them and will correct them.”
In the loss, the Cardinals were led in scoring by sophomore guard Eva Banke with 12 points.
Zuniga, who scored the 3-pointer to cut the Ravens’ lead to three, finished the night with 10 points and second on the team in scoring.
In the game’s final minutes, the Cardinals traded baskets with the Ravens, but errors on offense led to Vista Del Lago capitalizing on their possessions to retain their lead.
Despite the loss being fresh for Sulham, he looks at the 2025-26 season as a year that sets up a foundation for the future.
With the likes of Zuniga and Banke being sophomores, there is room for growth for Santa Clarita Christian, especially after finishing fourth in the Heritage League with a 9-6 record.
“These girls have a solid foundation in what they believe in, and they use that to help them get through adversity,” he said. “All these girls play as a team, they encourage each other, they work on helping each other get better … and because of that, we end up doing better than what we would if we were just trying to play one or two of our better players.”
