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    Kennedy girls basketball dominates Laguna Hills to win first CIF-SS title
    • March 1, 2026

    AZUSA — Those who arrived late to the CIF-SS Division 7 girls basketball championship game between Kennedy and Laguna Hills might have missed the few minutes when the game was competitive.

    Kennedy dominated Laguna Hills in every facet of the game in a 55-28 win Saturday at Azusa Pacific University.

    This is the first CIF-SS girls basketball championship for Kennedy (20-12).

    “The girls have been working hard all year long and it’s been about our defense,” Kennedy coach Nori Nishida said. “They executed so well.”

    Kennedy went on a 24-0 run in the first and second quarters to build a 24-2 lead two minutes into the second quarter.

    The Fighting Irish’s biggest lead was 27 points and they led the game for 29 of the 32 minutes.

    Freshman Ta’Niya Paul was dominant inside with 13 points and 21 rebounds. Paul also had a team-high eight assists and five steals.

    “Obviously, she’s got the inside game,” Nishida said of Paul. “You haven’t seen her outside game yet, but she’s got that going too.”

    Laguna Hills (17-11) was outrebounded 45-19 and had 30 points in the paint compared to zero for Laguna Hills.

    The Fighting Irish had 13 fastbreak points and 16 second-chance points. Laguna Hills had zero points in either category.

    The two teams were familiar with each other. Kennedy had beaten Laguna Hills twice in Golden West League play this season and won both games by an average of 23.5 points.

    Laguna Hills went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter but never got the game within 19 points after Kennedy’s big run to start the game.

    Keira McDermott led Laguna Hills with 14 points and Cameron McDermott added 12.

    “The journey’s been fantastic for the team and we just ran into a really good team tonight,” Laguna Hills coach Jim Martin said. “We knew what we were up against. I think they are a team that could play up a division or two and make a deep run.”

    Laguna Hills was 5-0 in CIF-SS championship games entering Saturday with its most recent win coming in 2012. Four of those championships were won under Martin.

    The Hawks played well defensively in the half court, but Kennedy’s pace gave Laguna Hills challenges defensively and Nishida realized that early.

    “The big part of our game is our transition game,” Nishida said. “They all understand the game well enough where we are pushing the ball, executing our runners on both ends of the corners as well as trailers. They just do it so effectively.”

    Alyssa Lacorte had 11 points for Kennedy with three steals and Jessie Collins added 10 points. Megan Duong had four steals and Lacorte added three.

     

    ​ Orange County Register 

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