Five SCV teams advance to round 2; Trinity eliminated from CIF playoffs
In the final 10 games of the regular season, the Valencia Vikings have scored 60-plus points in eight of their wins with the team showing its ability to have big offensive nights. And in Valencia’s first-round matchup in the Division 1 playoffs, the scoring trend continued as the Lady Vikings defeated the Chino Cowboys, 76-44, to advance to the second round.
Despite the big scoring margin, Valencia head coach Jared Honig said after the game that the matchup against Chino was a battle, but that the Lady Vikings learned a lot from the win Thursday to take into the next round.
“It was a battle,” he said. “I know the margin on the scoreboard maybe wouldn’t show that, but it was a really physical game, just a battle all night long.”
In the first quarter, the Lady Vikings’ offense started off slowly and only managed to outscore the Cowboys 13-6.
Although the slow start on offense was not ideal for Honig, the execution on defense led to scoring opportunities on offense in the second quarter.
“I think our first-quarter defense was really solid. We only scored 13, which is a little bit less than we’re accustomed to, which maybe was by us feeling a little bit nervous about the playoff atmosphere,” he said. “But I thought we battled through the second quarter, came out and really pushed the lead, and then third and fourth kind of sustained and built it up even a little bit more.”
In the second half, the Lady Vikings outscored the Cowboys, 40-28, and never let Chino’s offense get going.
Senior guard Cara McKell led all Valencia players in scoring and finished the night with a double-double as she recorded 27 points and 14 rebounds.
Sophomore Kamila Basyrova also contributed to the offensive showing with 18 points of her own and 10 rebounds.
With the win, the Lady Vikings will travel on the road Saturday for their second-round matchup against the Mira Costa Mustangs of Manhattan Beach.
Despite having to be on the road for the next game, Honig isn’t worried about having to travel and looks forward to having another big night offensively to keep on advancing.
“We just got to build,” he said. “We’ll watch some film on Mira Costa to get prepared, have everybody rest up and recover and then just be ready to roll on Saturday.”
The game between the Lady Vikings and Mustangs is set to tip off at 6 p.m. at Mira Costa High School.
After Thursday night’s games, here are scores from the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs:
Saugus 64, Claremont 47: In the first round of the Division 2 playoffs, the Lady Centurions secured the home win over the Claremont Wolfpack.
With the win, the Lady Centurions advanced into the second round and will have a road matchup Saturday against the Heritage Patriots of Menifee with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m.
Rosary Academy 65, Trinity Classical Academy 36: In the first round of the Division 2 playoffs, the Knights fell on the road to the Rosary Academy Royals.
With the loss, the Knights were eliminated from the playoffs.
Canyon 75, Vista Murrieta 52: In the first round of the Division 3 playoffs, the Canyon Cowboys secured the road over the Vista Murrieta Broncos.
Sophomore guard Darby Dunn led all Cowboys in scoring with 37 points and had an all-around performance as she ended the night with 12 rebounds, eight steals, and seven assists.
With the win, the Cowboys return home to host their second-round matchup against the visiting Wiseburn-Da Vinci Wolves of El Segundo.
The game between the Cowboys and Wolves is set to tip off at 7 p.m. Saturday at Canyon High School.
Hart 49, San Jacinto Valley 44: In the first round of the Division 6 playoffs, the Lady Hawks took the home win over the visiting San Jacinto Valley Academy Wolves.
With the win, the Lady Hawks are set to hit the road Saturday as they match up against the Santa Fe Chiefs.
The game between the Chiefs and Lady Hawks is set to tip off at 5 p.m. at Santa Fe High School.
Santa Clarita Christian 38, Webb 32: In the first round of the Division 9 playoffs, the Cardinals secured the home win over the Webb Gauls of Claremont.
With the win, the Cardinals will be on the road Saturday for their second-round matchup against the Victor Valley Christian Royals of Victorville.
The game between the Royals and Cardinals is set to tip off at 7 p.m. at Victor Valley Christian School.
