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Hillcrest girls basketball team holds off Santa Ana, wins Division 5AA title

March 1, 2025

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Chloe Wells is a coaching rookie, but she knows what takes to be a champion.

As a high school player, Wells helped the Miller girls basketball program wins back-to-back CIF Southern Section championships.

Wells played overseas for a decade but decided to put the ball down and start her coaching career. She landed at Hillcrest in September and orchestrated a turnaround.

Hillcrest went 7-20 last season, but the Trojans now can call themselves champions after beating Santa Ana 39-36 in the Division 5AA title game Saturday morning at Edison High School.

“God led me here to this school,” Wells said. “When I got here, their heads and shoulders were down, but I saw the greatness in them.

“I call them the comeback kids. To come back from a season like that and overcome adversity at every stop, it has been the time of my life. I’m so proud of their hard work and belief in each other.”

Santa Ana (15-13) overcame obstacles to get to this point, as well, including a coaching change during the middle of the season.

The Saints started Saturday morning’s final on the right foot, scoring the first four points of the contest. Santa Ana was unable to keep that momentum going, however, and made only 9 of 50 shots (18 percent) from the field.

“I’m proud of the girls but we just fell short today,” Saints coach Dana Nguyen said. “We had trouble scoring.”

Hillcrest (21-6) only made 1 of 17 attempts during the opening quarter, but the score was knotted at 7 going into the second period.

The Trojans put together a 10-0 run during the second quarter to take their first lead of the game. Raylene Valadez knocked down a 3-pointer and Zoey Boulware had a putback to lead that charge. Hillcrest took an 18-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Hillcrest opened the second half with a 9-4 run to push the lead to nine points. Valadez sank another 3-pointer to kickstart the run and dished a ball to Alexandra Sanchez for an uncontested layup to finish it.

Valadez scored a team-high 14 points for the Trojans in Saturday’s championship game.

“I made my first (3-pointer) then missed a few,” said Valadez, who missed last season with an ACL injury. “You just have to have a mentality that the next one is going in.”

Santa Ana kept battling, thanks in large part to the shooting of Yarexy Diaz. She drained three 3-pointers in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 15 points.

“It felt great making those shots,” said Diaz, who sank 5 of 8 attempts beyond the arc.

Boulware finished the game with 10 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks and four steals. Her putback gave Hillcrest a 35-24 lead with 4 1/2 minutes in the contest.

Santa Ana made one final comeback attempt. Jazmine Solis sank a big 3-pointer, helping the Saints trim the deficit to three points in the final minute.

Hillcrest made only 4 of 12 free throws down the stretch. Santa Ana had an opportunity to tie things up, but Cynthia Silva’s 3-pointer from the top of the arc drew iron. And time eventually ran out on the Saints.

Amaya Branchcomb score eight points for Hillcrest, and Za’Nylah Jackson finished with 11 rebounds off the bench.

Solis scored 10 points for Santa Ana, and Silva led the Saints with nine rebounds.

Both teams will begin play in the CIF State playoff beginning Tuesday.

Orange County Register

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Hillcrest girls basketball team holds off Santa Ana, wins Division 5AA title

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