Girls Basketball playoffs: Covina, Duarte, Walnut all advance


Covinta holds off West Covina: Sixth-seeded Covina pulled away down the stretch and knocked off neighborhood rival West Covina 59-48 in a CIF-Southern Section Division 2A girls basketball first-round game on Thursday night.
The Colts (24-5) advance to Saturday night’s second round and will be at Leuzinger, which beat Mayfair 67-44.
Senior Mariah Sierra had 13 points to lead four Colts who scored in double figures. She added 14 rebounds and seven assists. Diana Navarro had 12 points and Allison Ayala and Valerie Hidalgo added 11 each.
“Mariah took over the game,” Colts coach Nick Masi said. “She dominated the paint, especially at the offensive end. She made some soft floaters and made really good decisions to put a lot of pressure on them. That’s senior leadership.”
In a game that had seen two ties and five lead changes, the key play came in the fourth quarter when Mariana Cruz converted a four-point play that stretched the lead to 50-42 with 3:36 left in the game.
“I thought she got fouled,” Masi said. “She got bumped on the way down an that was huge because she turned it into a four-point play.”
The Colts led 28-23 at the end of the first half but Pam Rongavilla and freshman Nikki Thompson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second half and give the Bulldogs a one-point lead.


Diamond Bar falls to Yucaipa: When sophomore Tori Guzman got the ball in the left corner with about 30 seconds remaining Thursday night and a three-point lead, Yucaipa High School girls basketball coach Jeremy Hoch had a fleeting thought.
“I thought, ‘Don’t shoot it. I want to run the clock,’” Hoch said.
But Hoch didn’t say it.
“Because I knew if she made it, the game would be over,” he said.
Diamond Bar coach Tony McCabe had a different thought: Don’t make it.
But Guzman made the 3-pointer and it essentially sealed a 65-59 victory in a CIF Southern Section Division 1A first-round game at Yucaipa. Citrus Belt League champion Yucaipa (21-4) advances to play Saturday at No. 1 seed King of Riverside.

Walnut gets past its nerves in win: The start of the CIF Southern Section playoffs can sometimes bring the jitters out of even the best athletes. That’s why Walnut High School girls basketball coach Lori Huckler said she likes to get past opening-round games. She said she wants all the nervous energy gone by the time the later rounds start.
Huckler said her team was a little nervous in its Division 2AA first round playoff game, but it didn’t show on the scoreboard. Walnut led from start to finish as it pulled away from San Gabriel in the fourth quarter to win 64-47 on Thursday night. Walnut will play host to Temescal Canyon on Saturday.
“We’re really excited,” Huckler said. “We’ve been working all season to get back to the playoffs. Last year we lost in the first round (56-49 to Huntington Beach). We were disappointed even though we lost to the No. 1 seed. We were winning with two minutes left in that game, so we feel we have more to prove this year.”

CIF-Southern Section Playoffs Schedule
Girls Basketball Basketball
All games start at 7 p.m., unless noted
Thursday’s first round
Division 1A

Yucaipa 65, Diamond Bar 59
Duarte 51, Murrieta Valley 40
Division 2AA
Dos Pueblos 44, Bonita 36
Walnut 64, San Gabriel 47
Division 2A
Covina 59, West Covina 48
Division 3AA
Gahr 52, El Monte 40
Palos Verdes 58, Diamond Ranch 33
Division 3A
Rancho Verde 69, Sierra Vista 32
Division 4AA
Nipomo 55, San Dimas 39
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 31, Arroyo 26
Division 4A
Pioneer 55, Bassett 48

Saturday’s second round
All games start at 7 p.m.
Division 1A
Duarte at Hart
Division 2AA
Arcadia at Los Altos
Arroyo Grande at Rowland
Temescal Canyon at Walnut
Division 2A
Covina at Leuzinger
Division 3AA
Glendora at Gabrielino
Tahquitz at Bishop Amat
Division 4A
Banning at Pomona
Division 5A
La Puente at California Military
Division 5AA
La Reina at Rosemead
Division 6
Southlands Christian at Lucerne Valley

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