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Godinez basketball’s historic playoff run ends with loss in regional final

March 11, 2026

SANTA ANA — The Godinez girls basketball team’s historic run in the CIF state playoffs fell one game short of the state championships, as the Grizzlies lost to Palisades, 54-38, in the CIF SoCal Division IV Regional final Tuesday night at Godinez High.

Grizzlies coach AJ Alaman would have loved the opportunity to play one more game, but the Dolphins had other plans and pulled away from Godinez in the second half.

Godinez (19-13) stayed within striking distance thanks to the play of Valerie Esteban and trailed only 23-21 at halftime. But Palisades heated up in the third quarter.

The Dolphins extended their lead to 34-24 in the third. Grizzlies sophomore point guard Crystal Cruz knocked down a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to bring Godinez within five points.

Palisades (16-13) quickly responded with a 5-0 spurt by Elly Tierney, which included a corner 3-pointer just before time expired in the third.

Alaman said he knew from watching film of Palisades that it comes out “guns ablazing” in the second half.

“So I was happy that we had cut it at five (points) and we were getting stops,” he explained. “We just weren’t cashing in on the offensive end, and that was our demise. That’s where they built that lead.”

The Dolphins were led by Riley Oku, who scored a game-high 18 points, and Tierney, who who added 12 points. Sumaya Levy scored nine points on three 3-pointers.

For Palisades coach LeBre Merritt, Saturday’s state championship game in Sacramento will give the program an opportunity it never got in 2020 when Merritt was an assistant coach.

“So when my niece (Demonnie Lagway) was a sophomore, we made it.” Merritt said. “We won our regional final but COVID happened and everything shut down as soon as we were about to book our tickets so we weren’t able to play that game. So now we get an opportunity to play the game and, you know, and make up for lost time.”

Esteban scored a team-high 14 points for the Grizzlies while Crystal Cruz and Julissa Mota finished with seven points each.

Alaman said it will be hard to say goodbye to his senior players, but he made it a point to let his team know that they belong.

“Like I said time and time again, this is a special group,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed this run with these seniors. … Definitely proud of this group and would’ve loved one more, one more, especially a big trip going to Sacramento like that. But gotta look at the silver lining of it. We were fortunate to get this far.

“You know, we told the girls, like, we’re not here by chance. You know, we’re a good team as well.”

Orange County Register

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Godinez basketball’s historic playoff run ends with loss in regional final

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