The second-seeded Victory Christian Academy girls basketball team was flirting with history Tuesday evening on its Rancho Del Rey campus when it hosted the fourth-seeded Shalhevet Lady Firehawks from Los Angeles in the Division V Southern California Regional championship game.
The winner would advance to Friday’s state championship game in Sacramento.
The teams played a cat-and-mouse game with multiple lead chances during a fast-paced third quarter before the L.A. visitors finally gained the upper hand in the final quarter to post a 62-52 victory
Shalhevet (23-6) will play San Anselmo’s San Domenico (23-11) for the state title. The Lady Knights (20-12) finished an otherwise extraordinary season as the San Diego Section Division IV champion and Southern California regional runners-up for the second consecutive season.
“We were hoping our seniors could take advantage of this to make it to Sacramento,” Victory Christian coach Kenneth Lucas said. “We had our chances, but we just couldn’t come through.”
The spirit was definitely willing.
Senior Aysia Santos got the home fans roaring when she hit a three-point shot for the game’s first points; senior Salma Youngblood got the whole gym in an uproar when she hit a desperation shot from midcourt that sank through nothing but net as the halftime buzzer sounded to narrow the Shalhevet lead to 32-30.
But most of the game otherwise belonged to the Lady Firehawks, who hit three-pointers from seemingly every corner of the court and banked in shots from outrageous angles.
But the Lady Knights, who had won seven consecutive playoff games (section and regionals combined) managed to hang in there.
A three-point bomb by Santos gave Victory Christian a 33-32 lead to tip off the third quarter. The teams exchanged leads in heated fashion before an 8-0 run off a shot banked off the backboard from a near impossible angle and pair of treys eventually gave Shalhevet the breathing room it needed to secure the victory.
The Lady Firehawks, who sank eight treys in the contest, led by as much as 13 points in the late going before the Lady Knights responded with a late push to cheers from their fans.
Senior Tiana Sledge, using a devastating hook shot to superb results, keyed the Lady Knights with 17 points. She added eight rebounds. Youngblood dropped in 14 points. Santos had six points — both on treys.
Sophomore Arielle Grossman sank three treys in the final quarter to enable the Shalhevet to pull away on the scoreboard. She led all players in the game with 27 points while teammate Yalee Schwartz had 14 points.
Victory Christian extended its winning streak to 12 games following last Saturday’s 63-31 blowout win over third-seeded Rancho Buena Vista in the regional semifinals.
The Lady Knights, who were keyed by 17 points from Sledge and 15 points from five-foot-five freshman sparkplug Sophia Abella, built a 32-16 halftime lead en route to the cruise control victory.
Lucas said team camaraderie was a keynote of this year’s team
“The girls really enjoyed playing with each other,” Lucas said. “There was never any selfishness. They played for the next person. This has been a total team effort.”
Abella played fearlessly throughout the playoffs for the Lady Knights.
“Everyone has had their moments in the playoffs, but I can’t say enough about Sophia,” Lucas said. “Her IQ in basketball is phenomenal. She never allows her emotions to get the better of her. She stays grounded. She keeps her teammates grounded.
“Our whole goal from Day One was to win state.”
