Historic season not over yet

— ONTARIO – Saturday marked two CIF-SS girls basketball championship game appearances in the past five years for the Rancho Christian girls’ basketball team. However, unlike in the COVID Spring season of 2021, where the Eagles fell on the road at Newport Harbor, this time around brought about a different feeling for Rancho Christian.

Behind a 20-0 first quarter run, covering just over four and a half minutes, the Eagles raced out to a 58-16 lead at halftime and prevailed by a final score of 91-29 in the CIF-SS Division 3A title game at Ontario’s Colony High School. Julia Wilson hit a pair of three pointers in the run which culminated on a layup by Jada Tiggett created by her own steal.

Rancho Christian, the CIF Southern Section Division 3A girls’ basketball champions. Valley News/David Canales photo

“We knew it would be a tough road to climb, especially after losing Lyndsey (Valverde) to a knee injury yesterday, but I’m so proud of how far these girls have come this year,” Chino coach Sandra Van Embricqs said. “I don’t leave here sad that we lost but proud that we got this far.”

Kaitlyn Carillo’s layup broke the shutout for Chino and Kimberly Day converted a three-point play to make it 27-7 Rancho Christian after a quarter.

“Nobody thought we’d get here except the girls in that locker room and our coaches,” Day remarked. “We got here with heart and we played with heart today until that final horn. This is something I will never forget.”

Aaliyah Stanton scores thirty points to lead Rancho Christian to a 91-29 victory and the CIF Southern Section Division 3A girls’ basketball championship over Chino Saturday, Feb. 25. Valley News/David Canales photo

“We’ve been locked in all playoffs and were ready to go today,” Eagles coach Marlon Wells said. “These girls have been getting after it all year and I can’t be prouder of them. A lot of people don’t know too much about our school outside the Mobley brothers, so we’re putting the program on the map. We’re struggling with numbers right now and hopefully this will help in that regard.”

Leaving no doubt as to the outcome, Rancho Christian used a 17-5 run second quarter run to further extend the lead to 44-12. Shaylynn De Yager’s three pointer from the top of the key at the halftime buzzer capped off a 58-point half.

“To play at the pace we play at requires a lot of conditioning in practice,” said Aaliyah Stanton, who led the Eagles with 30 points. “It definitely felt good to grab that early lead, but we knew we couldn’t take the pedal off the medal until the clock said zero.”

Rancho Christian and Chino will both find out their CIF-State SoCal regional tournament pairings Sunday, Feb. 26, and will begin play on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 28. Visit www.ciftstate.org for more information.

Rancho Christian scoring:

A. Stanton – 30, J. Tiggett – 16, J. Wilson – 14, S. De Yeager – 12

Three-pointers: Wilson – 3, De Yeager – 2, Stanton – 1

Derryl Trujillo

Derryl Trujillo has been a local sportswriter since 2018 and is the 2019 IEBCA Supporter of the Year award winner. He can be reached via email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.