Granada Hills girls basketball shows resilience en route to first CIF State final

Despite losing the 2023 City Player of the Year to injury, Granada Hills will play in its first-ever CIF State final Friday afternoon

Perseverance has been the theme for the Granada Hills Charter girls basketball team this season.

Returning City Player of the Year Marianne Boco sustained a season-ending knee injury before the 2023-24 campaign started. The team’s other starting guard only played the first 10 games before being removed from the team.

“We had no primary ball-handler for a while,” coach Rai Colston said. “Teams were taking advantage of that during league play.”

Despite early-season roster challenges, the Highlanders earned a bid to the City Open Division playoffs where they lost in the first round but qualified for the state tournament.

“These girls could’ve checked out, easily, and they didn’t,” Colston said.

By way of three straight, three-point victories, and a two-point victory in the regional final, Granada Hills will play in the program’s first-ever CIF State final on Friday at 2 p.m. against Caruthers at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento for the Division III crown.

The game will be televised on Spectrum and streamed live on NFHS Network (LINK).

“This team is tough and resilient,” Colston said.

Granada Hills (21-11) has been anchored by 6-foot-2 senior Brigita Bulotaite from Lithuania. She’s averaging 12 points and eight rebounds per game, including 20 points and 19 points in the last two games, respectively.

Granada Hills’ Brigita Bulotaite is a standout on this year’s girls basketball team / Photo courtesy of GHC basketball

All-City senior forward Emma Perez has been a foundational piece amid the run in her fourth year in the program. Senior guard Karma Paez has stepped up in the absence of Boco, pouring in 13 points per game.

“She’s taken on more responsibility … more ball-handling and making big shots,” Colston said.

The run to a CIF State final has been liberating for Colston in his first year, adjusting to life in new colors after being suddenly dismissed from El Camino Real in 2022 after five years at the helm and winning a Division I City title that season. 

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Colston, who’s a 2004 graduate from ECR and was a four-year boys‘ varsity starter, has been a PE teacher at Campbell Hall for eight years and helped with the Vikings boys basketball program last season before taking over at Granada Hills this season.

“I know my value and what I can bring as a coach,” Colston said. “I knew I had an itch to coach again, and when the opportunity at Granada Hills came, I jumped on it.”

Granada Hills coach Rai Colston poses with the CIF State SoCal regional Division III trophy.  / Photo courtesy of GHC basketball