Portola Girls Basketball Bat El Capitan to reach the regional semi -finals of CIF Socal – Orange County Register

Support our sports cover in high school by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

---

The list of obstacles in front of the Portola basketball women’s team appeared in the southern Southern California region on Thursday in El Capitan de Lakeside.

Bulldogs were well prepared to answer.

Portola overcome a crowd and a group of noisy spirituals, a larger opponent and a greater problem to perceive a 57-49 victory with thread 57-49 in a second round of division II match in El Capitan High.

The Bulldogs of the fifth seeded (19-15), which participate in the region for the first time, play the monache to wear a serial in the semi-finals on Saturday.

“Phenomenal”, said the senior center of Portola, Bianca Morrell, about the race in the Bulldogs qualifiers. “We have not been so far forever. I’m just shocked. (It is) our camaraderie team and working together. »»

Portola, which reached the semi-finals of the 2AA CIF-SS division, united to oust n ° 4 El Capitan (24-7), an open division team from the San Diego section.

Goalkeeper Kara Nihi scored an 18 -point summit, including four 3 points, and collected four assists for Portola. Compatriot Nina Saiki collected 15 points, three assists and three interceptions.

Strike Amelia Booth added 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs while the first -year goalkeeper Yuri Ha came out of the bench to sink three points to nine points.

Portola led by 20-5 to the first quarter, but the score quickly tightened. El Capitan reduced his deficit to 26-24 at the start of the third quarter and dragged 51-45 with just over a minute in fourth. It was then that Madison Nguyen made one of the biggest games in the game for Bulldogs.

The Crean Lutheran transfer goalkeeper stole the ball with 1:15 remaining and made a breakaway while being faulty. The three-point game gave Portola an advance of 54-45 with 1:08 on the left, and highlighted the perseverance of Bulldogs.

Nguyen resumed his fourth fault at the start of the third period and spent a considerable time on the bench before the banks in his critical shot at the top of the glass.

“It is not how difficult you are, but how hard you are and continue to move forward,” said the seventh year of Portola, Brian Barham. “It’s like life. Can you continue to persevere and fight, and the children we have capable of persevere and fighting. »»

“This end and 1 is exactly what ended the match,” added the coach, who also sailed three faults on Booth. “We do not teach basketball. We teach life.

Portola said he felt prepared for a team from El Capitan with a 6 -foot 2 inch post and a 5 -inch attacker due to his difficult schedule.

The Bulldogs finished second in the Pacific Coast League in Sage Hill, an open qualification in the southern section. They also played to qualify Fairmont Prep, an Ontario Christian, Moreno Valley and Jserra champion.

Portola used the 5 -foot 10 -inch and 5 inch Morrell stand to keep the Post players from El Capitan.

“At first, having these difficult games certainly helps us to prepare,” said Niho. “Each match now, we know that we have faced more difficult teams throughout the year.”

Monache beat Palos Verdes 45-36 in another match in the second round.

In other regional matches Thursday:

In division I:

FAIRMONT PREP 63, Harvard-Westlake 56: Sarah Aldeguer scored 19 points and Maria Mejia and Adyra Rajan added 14 and 13 points, respectively, to punctuate the best classified Huskies (23-10). Fairmont Prep welcomes on Saturday in the semi-finals in the semi-finals.

Sage Hill 58, Moreno Valley 34: Kamdyn Klamberg scored 17 points and Amalia Holguin collected 16 points and four interceptions to lead lightning n ° 2 (21-11), which welcomes Brentwood in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In Division V:

Santa Ana 49, University Prep 36: Cynthia Silva scored 21 points and Kalleigh Solis collected 11 points while the saints won on the road to go to the semi-finals on Saturday in Hillcrest. Santa Ana fell to Hillcrest 36-26 in the final of the CIF-SS 5-AA division last weekend.

Originally published: March 6, 2025 at 10:54 p.m. PST