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    El Dorado’s long journey ends with its first state girls basketball title
    • March 14, 2026

    SACRAMENTO – The El Dorado girls basketball team took a bus ride that lasted more than nine hours to play 32 minutes of basketball.

    It was worth every second.

    The Golden Hawks defeated Valley Christian of San Jose, 42-40, on Friday in the CIF State Division III championship game at Golden 1 Center.

    It is the school’s first girls basketball state championship and it capped an improbable final month of the season for the team.

    The Golden Hawks (24-14) had to win their final two games of the regular season to qualify for the CIF Southern Section playoffs. They won the CIF-SS Division 4 championship, the school’s first section title in girls basketball since 1976. They continued winning in the CIF State playoffs and had a wild comeback in the regional final. Their season culminated Friday with a win in their first CIF State finals appearance.

    “It’s been a very long journey for us,” said El Dorado coach Matt Raya, referring to the season and not the bus ride. “The hard work these girls put in came out today. We got some defensive stops when we needed them.”

    The win Friday was a dramatic one. As Raya put it afterward, “It was kind of stressful.”

    El Dorado senior Delaney Shiring made a high-arc 3-point shot as the shot-clock buzzer sounded to give the Golden Hawks a 39-32 lead with 3:57 remaining in the game.

    They hurriedly passed the ball from player to player until the ball got to Shiring for an open shot.

    “When I shot it I didn’t think it would go in,” Shiring said. “I saw that my man was off of me, I saw the ball coming to me and I just got it off quick. That was a really good example of us moving the ball well.”

    From there, Valley Christian senior guard Kenedi Nomura made a free throw. Warriors senior Anaya Bannarbie scored on a close bank shot, and Nomura made a 3-point basket to make the score 39-38 with 1:21 to go.

    Shiring scored on a drive for a 41-38 lead with 49 seconds remaining. Bannarbie again scored inside to make it 41-40 with 34 seconds left.

    Valley Christian (16-16) wound up sending El Dorado’s Riley Morikawa to the free-throw line with 13 seconds left. Morikawa made one of her two foul shots for a 42-40 lead.

    Nomura drove the lane, El Dorado defenders converged, the ball was knocked loose and bounced off of Nomura’s knee to give possession of the ball to El Dorado with one second remaining. The Golden Hawks’ celebration started after they safely inbounded the ball.

    Shiring, who committed to Pomona-Pitzer, led El Dorado with 15 points and had six rebounds. Wood had eight assists. Karis Wu scored eight points as did Morikawa, who also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

    El Dorado made 11 of its 12 free throws, including 8 for 8 at the line in the first quarter.

    Nomura led Valley Christian with 18 points.

    El Dorado had its biggest first-half lead — six points — twice in the second quarter.

    Wood missed her first six shots of the first half before connecting on two jump shots in the second quarter.

    El Dorado led at the end of the first quarter, 14-12, and at halftime, 24-21.

     

     Orange County Register 

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