CIF STATE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS – Whitney claws back in fourth quarter behind So, Wang, advance to state title for first time

The Whitney High girls basketball team defeated Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High 47-42 this past Tuesday to become CIF Southern Regional champions for the first time in school history. The Wildcats will face Half Moon Bay High in the CIF State Division IV finals on Saturday in Sacramento. PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF.

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

MONTEBELLO-For the second time in 18 days, Whitney High made the visit to Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High with a trip to the CIF Division IV state championship game on the line. In the first meeting, the Wildcats were plagued by nine turnovers in the first quarter and fell to the Cardinals 41-36 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3A semifinals.

This past Tuesday, Whitney found itself down by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and six points with 2:25 left in the third quarter. But senior Haylie Wang had a monster fourth quarter with 10 points as the Wildcats knocked off CSHM 47-42 in the Southern California Division IV finals. Whitney will face Half Moon Bay High for the Division IV state championship on Saturday morning at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Cougars, who defeated Lowell High 49-47 in the Northern California regionals, are from the CIF-Central Coast Section.

“I told them we have [eight] minutes left,” said Whitney head coach Myron Jacobs as part of his speech to the team entering the fourth quarter, “I told them, ‘for the seniors, this is it; empty the tanks. We have to believe in our defense; we have to improve our rebounding, and we have to start making better shot selections’.”

“We were down by 12 and we just had to fight back and trust each other,” said Wang. “I started off slow, but you have to trust the process and then after that, we got going as a team.”

Wang tied the game at 35-35 less than a minute into fourth quarter and the game remained tied until the 5:32 mark when Wang grabbed a rebound, fed a pass to sophomore Alyssa So who put the Wildcats in front for good with her only fourth quarter basket. The next score wouldn’t come until there was 3:29 left, which was senior Keira Kato’s lone basket, followed by a steal and basket from Wang with three minutes remaining completed the 8-0 run.

Whitney (27-9) would have the lead for 14 seconds in the first quarter at 5-4, then watched the Cardinals go on a 20-7 run that lasted until the 3:50 mark of the second quarter. But the 605 League champions ended the first half strong, going on an 11-2 run as So scored seven points, Wang two points and senior Sarai Carter the other two points.

Wang’s only basket of the third quarter cut Whitney’s deficit to a point 70 seconds in before the hosts went on a 7-2 lead to hold a six-point lead with 2:25 left in the stanza. Despite trailing, the Wildcats were staying strong on the boards, collecting eight rebounds.

After scoring 11 points in the first meeting with CSHM on four of 19 shooting from the field, So led everyone with 22 points with four three-pointers while Wang, who has been consistent in her scoring since the loss to CSHM on Feb. 22, added 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. In fact, her two free throws with 22 seconds remaining in the game all but secured the victory. She would go to the line again nine seconds later for the only two trips Whitney made to the charity stripe.

But of all the heroes on the team, the one that stood out once again was Carter, who led Whitney with 11 rebounds. Since the loss to CSHM, Jacobs replaced sophomore Cheyanne Cheung with Carter in the starting lineup and the results have been impressive. She had seven points and five rebounds against the Cardinals in the first meeting, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in a 57-38 win over Chatsworth High on Mar. 6 in the second round of the regionals, and nine offensive rebounds two nights later against Granada Hills Charter High.

“She earned it,” said Jacobs of Carter. “She came out from the first time we played Cantwell and don’t get me wrong Cantwell is a great team. But they played a good game plan against us and Carter took over that game. Ever since then, I said I was going to go with my senior.”

Marina Leiva paced the Cardinals with 14 points while Shahanna Chavez added nine points, all on three-pointers. In the 41-36 win over Whitney, Alicia Lara led everyone with 16 points while Leiva had seven points.

“We knew she was going to score but we didn’t want to double [Leiva] because if we double her, we leave open a three [point shooter],” said Jacobs. “We said if we score, just make sure it’s a contested shot. I can live with that. I think in the second half, she wasn’t consistent; she went cold. We stuck with the plan, and we got on track.”

“We knew this was the only opportunity we have, especially with the six seniors,” said Wang. “If we lost today, that’s it and we want to prolong our season as long as possible. And we’re one step closer now that we won today.”

Whitney began the regionals on Mar. 4 with a 74-32 win over Pilibos High behind a career-high 39 points from So. The Wildcats then bolted out to a 16-0 lead against Chatsworth and breezed past the Chancellors last Thursday. So led the way with 19 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals while Wang added 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Carter pitched in with four rebounds and an assist as the Wildcats led anywhere from 14-23 points since that 16-0 run in the first 3:15 of the contest.

Two nights later, the Wildcats were put to the test against Granada Hills Charter and after a sluggish second quarter in which they attempted just five shots and turned the ball over 10 times, So’s only basket of the game, a three-pointer with 21.8 seconds left in the third quarter, gave Whitney its last lead at 31-28 and it held off the Highlanders in the fourth quarter in a 45-39 victory. The Wildcats were 12 of 46 from the field, but crashed the boards for 35 rebounds, 11 each from senior Rachel Moyher and Wang, who led all scorers with 14 points. So added 10 points and Carter had nine rebounds, all on the offensive and as the team survived a 17 of 29 performance at the free throw line.

“[CSHM] doesn’t know what I know, which is heart. They showed it time to time. Granada got us battle-tested and ready for this team and we finally brought it home. I’m just happy. It’s not just for Whitney; it’s for the city and it’s for a lot of these girls that didn’t get a chance to be in these shoes.”

“I was doing [this] for everyone,” said Wang. “I was doing this for the past players and [assistant] coach Wayne [Muramatsu] who has been here for so long. And I was doing it for my sister [Kylie] because she took the time to watch the film from last time and told me what I did wrong and what I had to improve on, and I made sure to keep that in my mind.”