High School Roundup: Sage Hill girls’ basketball tops Rolling Hills Prep in CIF quarterfinals
![Sage Hill's Kat Righeimer goes up for a shot against Fairmont Prep's Madeleine Salud in a San Joaquin League game on Jan. 20.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/26d236c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2833x2000+0+0/resize/1200x847!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2a%2F1e%2Fbb792b1842d49e87c7db04a64163%2Ftn-photos-staff-s1-daily-pilot-903194-tn-dpt-sp-fairmont-prep-sage-hill-girls-basketball-20220120-6.jpg)
The Sage Hill School girls’ basketball team had a formidable obstacle standing in its way when it squared off with San Pedro Rolling Hills Prep, a team that had already beaten them earlier this season.
Sophomores Annabelle Spotts and Zoie Lamkin, two starters, missed that first meeting for the Lightning, and with them back in the lineup, Sage Hill left no doubt it had the answer in the rematch.
Behind a fast start, Sage Hill stormed past Rolling Hills Prep 55-34 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs at home.
Second-seeded Sage Hill (21-9) will go on the road to face Santa Monica, the No. 3 seed, in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Emily Eadie had 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals for the Lightning, who got out to a 23-7 lead with 48 seconds left in the first quarter following back-to-back corner three-pointers from Isabel Gomez that came 20 seconds apart.
“We needed to bring that energy from the start because last game, obviously, our start wasn’t strong,” Eadie said. “We needed to focus on starting off strong and then maintaining that energy throughout the rest of the quarter.”
The Lightning maintained a double-digit advantage, despite substantial foul trouble. Spotts had two fouls just three minutes into the game, and Eadie picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter.
Sage Hill coach Kerwin Walters gambled with the situation by keeping both players on the floor, and the presence of Kat Righeimer in the paint continued to provide rim protection.
“Hold on,” Walters said of his mindset given the foul trouble. “That’s really [it]. Annabelle has not been here due to injuries and her being back, she’s a big deal for us. When she’s on the floor, she makes a big change for us. You cannot overly help on someone else because Annabelle is solid. She’s really good. She’s just getting better.”
Righeimer scored 11 points to go with six rebounds and five blocks. Gomez added 12 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three assists, and Lamkin also scored eight points.
“Our defense is really key,” Righeimer said. “We focus [during] practice a lot on defense. We know who our shooters are, and who we’re going to be on. Defensive help, we always have each other’s back, and with that being said, once we have each other’s back, we’re a full team, we’re a full squad, we’re going all the way.”
Nicole Fernandez had a team-high 12 points and eight rebounds for Rolling Hills Prep (15-7). Zariah Jackson scored eight points to go with seven rebounds, and Tatum Tamashiro had eight points and eight rebounds.
“My girls have had an excellent season,” Rolling Hills Prep coach Monique Alexander said. “They fought. Sometimes, things just don’t go their way, and I tell my girls all the time, ‘It’s not the situation. It’s how you respond.’ Unfortunately, it wasn’t our night, but I’m super proud.”
Also in the CIF Southern Section girls’ basketball playoffs:
Estancia 50, West Covina Edgewood 31: Mackenzie Sanchez led the host Eagles with 17 points, eight rebounds, eight steals, and seven assists on Saturday in a Division 5A quarterfinal game.
Liz Sanchez had 11 points and five rebounds for Estancia (15-12), which will travel to take on Santa Ana (15-16) on Wednesday in the semifinals.
Alexis Orellana added 10 points and five rebounds, and Sofia Sihabouj pulled down 14 rebounds.
Pacifica Christian 65, Los Angeles Sacred Heart 14: The top-seeded Tritons rolled to their second consecutive rout at home in the Division 4A quarterfinals on Saturday.
Pacifica Christian (24-5), the Academy League champion, remains at home to face Mulholland League champion Los Angeles Shalhevet (19-5) on Wednesday in the semifinals.
GIRLS’ WRESTLING
The Marina High School girls’ wrestling team hosted and won the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet on Saturday, topping San Dimas 155-122 for the team title.
Kacey Schafer (106 pounds), Anderson Presley (121) and Alexandra Lopez (143) finished as the runner-up in their respective weight classes for Marina.
The Vikings also had Kaelani Schufeldt (101, third), Jordyn Chrisco (116, third) and River Todd (126, fourth) place in the tournament.
Newport Harbor’s Skyler Gassel was sixth at 131 pounds, and Edison’s Ruby Pung was seventh in the 111-pound bracket.
The tournament served as a qualifying event for the CIF State individual wrestling championships, which will be held at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield from Feb. 24-26.
CIF Southern Section Masters Meet
At Marina High School
Team Results
1. Marina 155; 2. San Dimas 122; 3. Walnut 118.5; 4. Northview 115.5; 5. Paloma Valley 115; 6. Downey 106; 7. Hillcrest 95; 8. Arroyo 83.5; 9. Palm Desert 72; 10. Corona 71; 72. Newport Harbor 15; 81. Edison 13; 149. Corona del Mar 0
Championship Matches
101 – Brianna Gonzalez (Arroyo) pins Jillian Wells (Lakeside), 1:25.
106 – Emilie Gonzalez (Arroyo) pins Kacey Schafer (Marina), 0:56.
111 – Anaya Falcon (Walnut) dec. Karissa Turnwall (Paloma Valley), 5-1.
116 – Carissa Qureshi (Portola) pins Leilani Lazaro (Northview), 1:32.
121 – Leah Gaitan (Temecula Valley) pins Anderson Presley (Marina), 3:12.
126 – Esperanza Dorantes (San Dimas) dec. Tehya Ledesma (Hillcrest), 3-0.
131 – Hailey Chapman (Rim of the World) pins Madeline Santana (Cajon), 2:38.
137 – Reyna Montenegro (Paloma Valley) pins Chloe Overgaag (Palm Desert), 3:55.
143 – Jo Forman (Montclair) dec. Alexandra Lopez (Marina), 9-2.
150 – Savannah Lewis (Northview) pins Aalijah Pineda (Valencia), 3:38.
160 – Juliana Marquez (San Dimas) dec. Kayla Laguana (Westminster), 1-0.
170 – Mariyah Casados (Vista Murrieta) pins Angelina Renteria (Hueneme), 3:47.
189 – Saiheron Preciado-Meza (Lakewood) pins Gabby O’Connell (Elsinore), 4:40.
235 – Neila Fritts (Capistrano Valley) dec. Abby Delgadillo (Downey), 3-2.
BOYS’ SOCCER
Huntington Beach 4, Aliso Niguel 1: Kalani Delarole scored twice for the Oilers in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal match on Friday at home.
Teddy Melitas scored via a penalty kick after Nico Ruiz drew a foul in the box, and Tyler Kakimoto also had a goal for Huntington Beach (17-2-5).
Huntington Beach plays at top-seeded Servite in the semifinals on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Riverside Norte Vista 2, Los Amigos 1 (2OT): Randy Arciga scored a goal that was assisted by Omar Arciga, but the host Lobos were ousted from the Division 3 playoffs on Friday.
Daniel Terrones made four saves for Los Amigos (15-4-1), which was the Garden Grove League champion this season.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
Villa Park 3, Newport Harbor 2: Anto Russo scored both goals for the visiting Sailors on Saturday in a Division 1 quarterfinal match.
Sam Wallis produced an assist for Newport Harbor (14-10-4), which held a 2-1 lead in the second half. Emily Park made four saves in the contest.
Newport Harbor was the Wave League champion this season.
Villa Park plays at top-seeded Corona Santiago in a semifinal match on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Newport Harbor 2, Calvary Chapel 1: Sienna Schneider and McKayla Cotton each had two hits for the Sailors on Saturday in a nonleague game.
Newport Harbor 1, El Toro 0: Ava Nolan tossed a no-hitter for the Sailors in Saturday’s nonleague game.
Nolan struck out two and walked two in the outing for Newport Harbor (5-0).
BASEBALL
Estancia 9, Bolsa Grande 0: Sophomore Andrew Mits allowed just one hit while striking out 11 over six shutout innings on Friday in a nonleague game.
Andrew Coyotzi went three for three with a triple, three runs batted in and two runs scored for Estancia (4-0). Blake Peck drove in three runs in a two-hit performance, and John Uchytil had two hits and two RBIs.
Mits improved to 2-0 on the mound.
Los Amigos 16, Saddleback 0: The Lobos pitched a shutout in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday at home.
Los Amigos 18, Saddleback 3: The host Lobos improved to 5-0 overall after sweeping Saturday’s nonleague doubleheader.
::
Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.
For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.
Updates
1:17 p.m. Feb. 21, 2022: This story has been updated with additional results from the weekend.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.