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Live updates: CIF State girls basketball playoff regional finals scores, stats, recaps (3/5/2024)

California girls basketball fans got the rematch they all wanted as defending Open Division champion Etiwanda won its second straight SoCal title over Sierra Canyon while national No. 1 Mitty breezed to a North crown.

Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports

The 2024 CIF State girls basketball regional  playoff mostly finished up Tuesday with 11 regional finals across six brackets. All the winners advanced to the CIF State Championships at Golden 1 Center Friday and Saturday. 

The much anticipated state Open Division rematch between defending champion Etiwanda and Mitty is a go after both teams prevailed in very different manners.

Etiwanda holds off Sierra Canyon for CIF Southern California Regional Open Division championship – Live updates

Etiwanda (31-3) got 17 points from Grace Knock and 12 by Aliyahna Morris in a 54-51 win over Sierra Canyon, a team it beat two weeks previous 65-44 in the Southern Section finals. The Eagles survived a 25-point explosion from Sierra Canyon sophomore Jerzy Robinson and now get national No. 1 Mitty (29-0), which scored the first 16 points in a 71-34 beatdown of Clovis West (31-3). 

Mitty win fourth straight CIF Open Division NorCal crown, now look for payback versus Etiwanda

McKenna Woliczko had 20 points and Elani Weisman added 12 and eight others scored between 4-8. The game went to a running clock in the fourth quarter. Clovis West got 15 points from Boston College signee Athena Tomlinson. People want to see the rematch because last year's game was so dynamic, Etiwanda winning on a buzzer-beater, 69-67. The two teams will tip off at 6 p.m. Saturday. 

No. 6 Etiwanda girls stun No. 10 Mitty with buzzer-beating putback in 2023 CIF Open Division championship

 Here are the other matchups after Tuesday's finals. 

Division 1: Bishop Montgomery (22-5) had a comfortable 16-point led in the fourth but then had to hold on for a 71-68 win thanks to 21 points from Sophia Dignadice, 20 from Tiara Jones and 15 by Armanyie Reed to offset a game-high 23 points by Lev Feiman and 20 by Jocelyn Pascual. The Knights play Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland (30-5), which beat Carondelet 48-47 on a short jumper by Devin Cosgriff with three seconds to play. Savannah Jones had 16 points and Nyah Greenwood 14 points and 21 rebounds. O'Dowd and Bishop Montgomery will tipoff 6 p.m. Friday. 

Harvard-Westlake girls basketball downs Notre Dame, returns to CIF State final for first time since 2010

Division 2: Harvard-Westlake (18-18) will bring both programs to Sacramento as the defending Open boys champs advanced with a tight win over Roosevelt, while the girls prevailed 50-38 over Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks thanks to 15 points in just 12 minutes by Valentina Guerrero. The Wolverines will play defending D3 NorCal champions Colfax (34-2), which pulled a mild 52-48 win over third seed and host Pleasant Valley. Laurlyn Massick had 10 of her 14 in the second half to help out Kaia Diederich, who scored a team-high 18 points for the Falcons. Colfax, which lost earlier by 10 points to Pleasant Valley, overcame a 31-point game by AJ Gambol. 

Colfax girls wins second straight regional crown, beats Pleasant Valley for D2 NorCal title

Division 3: Fifth-seed Granada Hills (21-11) plays 14th-seed Caruthers (24-8), which shocked top Northern California seed University of San Francisco, 58-55. A desperation 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer by Gizelle Aguirre proved decisive. The Blue Raiders, who got 22 points and 16 rebounds from freshman Jaylee Moore, have won 12 of 14. They'll have to deal with 6-4 senior Brigita Bulotaite, who had 19 points leading Granda Hills to a 58-56 win at Bakersfield Christian.  

Division 5: Two schools with more than 1,650 students will battle in the smallest division 10 a.m. Friday as Northern California champion Oakland (22-10) takes on Montgomery-San Diego (25-11). Oakland, the 13th seed, beat seventh seed Crystal Springs Uplands, 62-50, thanks to .30 points from Ojiugo Egeonu and a combined 26 from Kyla Smith and Daijha. Montgomery got 21 points from Genevieve Whitehead and the Aztecs needed all in a 55-51 win over Escondido Charter. 

Division 4: The Northern California Division 4 championship between Arcata at top-seed St. Bernard's of Eureka was postponed to Wednesday due to winter storm warning and now to College of the Redwoods to accommodate more local fans. Waiting at the other end is Grossmont, a 57-52 winner over Fallbrook. Grossmont streaked to a 17-6 lead after one quarter and held on from there as Fallbrook outscored the Foothillers 46-40 the rest of the way. The D4 state title game will be played 10 a.m. Saturday. 

There are six regional finals in the South and six more in the North, with those winners advancing to the CIF State Championship games Friday and Saturday at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA Sacramento Kings.

Check back here through the night with updated scores and live updates. Below are the brackets along with a review of each round previously reported here. 

THE BRACKETS

Enjoy coverage from the first three rounds: 

SATURDAY (MARCH 2)

The illustrious career of Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan came to an end as Mater Dei dropped a 76-58 decision to defending state champion Etiwanda in a Southern California Open Division semifinal. Kiernan announced his retirement would arrive at the end of this season. The state's career win leader just won his 900th game earlier in the week. 

Etiwanda will face a familiar foe in second-seed Sierra Canyon, a 76-69 winner over Ontario Christian, in Tuesday's SoCal Open. 

One of two Northern California Open games were decided early as Clovis West upended St. Mary's-Stockton, 69-57, despite a game-high 29 points from McDonald's All-American and Texas commit Jordan Lee. 

The Golden Eagles will now face national No. 1 Mitty, which had a tougher time with Folsom than most expected, winning 82-71. '

In the D1 NorCal semifinals, fourth seed Carondelet finally ended the Cinderella tale of McClatchy-Sacramento, the 16th seed, with a 62-54 semifinal win. The Cougars now travel to Oakland to face a red hot Bishop O'Dowd squad, which defeated Oak Ridge, 58-50. 

In D1 South, top-seed Bishop Montgomery had little problem with La Jolla Country, winning 74-60 and now hosts seventh seed, the Brentwood School, which beat another upstart squad, 11th seed Moreno Valley, 69-66. 

All championship games are Tuesday with the winners of those moving on to Sacramento to play for the state championships at Golden 1 Center March 8-9.

Clovis West awaits the winner of national No. 1 Mitty, which is hosting upstart Folsom. 

Thursday

Perhaps most intriguing match-up is in North Division 1, where 16th seed McClatchy traveled to fellow Sac-Joaquin Section power, No. 8 Whitney, the SJS's Division 3 champion. 

CIF-Sac Joaquin Section basketball championships: Live updates — Modesto Christian boys, St. Mary's each win 22nd titles

In the end, Nina Cain had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Kaela Stancil-Williams added 16 points and Norret Lewis took over late with 20 points as McClatchy prevailed 73-67 in overtime despite 31 points and six 3s from junior guard Kendall Dykstra for Whitney (23-9).

McClatchy, featuring one of the state's top players in Cain (23.4 scoring average), had a 17-game win streak snapped in a big way with a  66-38 SJS Division 1 semifinal at  Folsom. 

Nina Cain (22), McClatchy
Nina Cain (22), McClatchy / Photo by Brian Kimoto

The Lions regouped in a big way to open the NorCal playoffs by shocking No. 1 Pinewood 66-64 on a game-winning bucket from Cain with less than 10 seconds to play. 

McClatchy continued their upset path and now travels to Concord to face Carondelet, a 62-58 winner over Sacred Heart Cathedral. 

Whitney was coming off not only a section title win, but a 53-41 win over a very tough Piedmont team. The loss ended the prep career of 6-3 forward Harper Peterson, who averages 14.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She's headed to Stanford. 

  • In more Division 1 North play, second-seed Bishop O'Dowd used a 23-2 run in the third quarter to trounce seventh-seed St. Ignatius 56-27 and Oak Ridge beat upset-minded Riordan, 60-51. O'Dowd will host the third-seeded Trojans Saturday. 

  •  In D1 Southern California, fourth-seed La Jolla Country Day edged fifth-seed Orangewood Academy, 42-39, and will face top-seed Bishop Montgomery, a 72-55 winner over Santiago in a Saturday semifinals. The other side of the bracket will feature two upstarts in No. 11 Moreno Valley and seventh-seed Brentwood School, which both pulled off quarterfinal upsets. 
  • In NCD4, top-seeded St. Bernard-Eureka spoiled Lincoln-San Francisco's Cinderella season with a 62-53 victory. 

Check the brackets below throughout the night for updates, results and scores. 

Wednesday

In Northern California, sixth-seed San Ramon Valley, coming off a tough loss in the North Coast Section Open finals, traveled to Sac-Joaquin Section champion St. Mary's Stockton, while SJS runner-up Folsom visited NCS champion Cardinal Newman. 

The Sac-Joaquin Section swept with St. Mary's prevailing 67-61 and Folsom breaking through at the finish to win 54-49. Folsom used a 15-0 run to wipe out a 40-33 deficit and take control early in the fourth quarter. 

St. Mary's jumped out early to take a 17-6 lead after one which proved decisive. San Ramon Valley outscored the Rams 43-35 over the next two quarters and trailed just 52-49 entering the fourth. But St. Mary's had too much McDonald's All-American Jordan Lee down the stretch. 

In Southern California, third-seed Ontario Christian hosted No. 6 Sage Hill, while Mission Hills, the fifth seed, traveled to third-seed Mater Dei. 

Mater Dei, playing for longtime head coach Kevin Kiernan who announced this is his final season, defeated Mission Hills, 71-47. On Wednesday he also won his 900th game which simply added to his career state-leading total.  Kaeli Wynn had four second-half 3-pointers to lead the win. 

Mater Dei now gets the tall task of playing at top seed Etiwanda on Saturday, when Ontario Christian, which beat Sage Hill 71-67, travels to Sierra Canyon. 

In the North, both of Wednesday's winners have a long haul to semifinal games: Folsom to San Jose to face the nation's No. 1 team Mitty, while St. Mary's travels to Fresno to face Clovis West.  

St. Mary's tops No. 1 seed Folsom for Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 girls championship

Tuesday

It didn't take long for the upsets to start as Northern California No. 1 Pinewood went down to No. 16 McClatchy, the Division 1 Sac-Joaquin Section runner-up. The visiting Lions had won 18 straight before getting pummeled in the SJS semifinals by Folsom, 66-38. 

Folsom went on to lose in the SJS section finals to St. Mary's, so perhaps that's why McClatchy (25-6) such a low seed. Clearly, that didn't sit well with the Lions who defeated the seven-time state champion Panthers (21-6).  

Another 16th seed proved victorious as Cathedral Catholic, of the San Diego Section, took down No. 1 Dana Hills 54-45, in SoCal D3 first-round action. 

Many of the games were part of doubleheaders and started early, including two Division 1 games in the North where seventh-seed St. Ignatius held off a furious fourth-quarter rally from No. 10 Marin Catholic to win 45-41. 

St. Ignatius, which pulled off three upsets in the Central Coast Section Open Division round-robin before losing to national No. 1 Mitty, led by 15 most of the third quarter before holding an 11-point edge heading into the fourth. 

Marin Catholic junior McFadden then went off with 11 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth to close to 43-41, before two free throws by St. Ignatius' Meaghan Manning sealed it with eight seconds left. 

St. Ignatius (19-10) now travels to second-seed Bishop O'Dowd (21-6) which rolled past  15th seed Saint Francis 76-27 behind 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks by 6-2 junior Madison Gordon. 

In SoCal D1 play, visiting Moreno Valley (29-5), the 11th seed, upset Corona Centennial 68-60 and now faces either third-seed Birmingham or Westview. 

California basketball coach overcomes heart attack, leads boys and girls high school teams to championships

In Division 4 NorCal play, Lincoln of San Francisco (24-4), playing with a new coach in Carl Jacobs, hung on to beat Lincoln of Amador Country, 56-48, and now likely will travel 260 miles to the top of the state to Eureka to face top seed St. Bernard's. 

Afer a couple rugged weeks of sectional play, regional action starts Tuesday and culminates with state finals March 8-9 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

National No. 1 Mitty doubles up St. Ignatius to win 32nd CIF Central Coast Section girls basketball championship

Defending state champion Etiwanda (South) and Mitty (North) were the obvious top Open Division picks after claiming Southern and Central Coast section championship, respectively.

Etiwanda girls basketball routs Sierra Canyon to claim 2024 CIF Southern Section Open Division crown

The other open teams in the South are: No. 2 Sierra Canyon, No. 3 Ontario Christian, No. 4 Mater Dei, No. 5 Mission Hills and No. 6 Sage Hill. 

The other North Open teams are: No. 2 Clovis West, No. 3 St. Mary's-Stockton, No. 4 Cardinal Newman, No. 5 Folsom and No. 6 San Ramon Valley.

Other top seeds per division are: Division 1 — Bishop Montgomery (South) and Pinewood (North); D2 — Oak Park (S) and Branham (N); D3 — Dana Hills (S) and University (N); D4 — Newbury Park (S) and St. Bernard's (N); D5 — Montgomery-SD (S), Mendota (D5).

North Coast Section Girls Open Division championship: Cardinal Newman takes down top seed San Ramon Valley

Defending state champions in each division are: Etiwanda (Open Division), Oakland Tech (D1), Central (D2), Los Osos (D3), Shalhevet (D4) and Bret Harte (D5). Defending Northern California D6 champ is Cornerstone Christian. 

St. Mary's tops No. 1 seed Folsom for Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 girls championship

Brentwood School girls basketball routs Santiago (Corona) for second straight CIF-SS title: 5 takeaways

Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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