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Portola girls basketball beats El Capitan to reach CIF SoCal Regional semifinals

March 7, 2025

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The list of obstacles in front of Portola’s girls basketball team appeared formidable Thursday in the CIF Southern California Regional at El Capitan of Lakeside.

The Bulldogs were well-prepared to respond.

Portola overcame a loud home crowd and spirit band, a taller opponent and foul trouble to collect a wire-to-wire 57-49 victory in a Division II second round game at El Capitan High.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs (19-15), who are competing in the regional for the first time, play at top-seeded Monache of Porterville in the semifinals Saturday.

“Phenomenal,” Portola senior center Bianca Morrell said of the Bulldogs’ postseason run. “We haven’t been this far in forever. I’m just shocked. (It’s) our team camaraderie and working together.”

Portola, which reached the CIF-SS Division 2AA semifinals, united to oust No. 4 El Capitan (24-7), an Open Division team from the San Diego Section.

Guard Kara Niho scored a team-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and had four assists for Portola. Fellow guard Nina Saiki had 15 points, three assists and three steals.

Forward Amelia Booth added 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs while freshman guard Yuri Ha came off the bench to sink three 3-pointers en route to nine points.

Portola led by 20-5 in the first quarter but the score soon tightened. El Capitan trimmed its deficit to 26-24 early in the third quarter and trailed 51-45 with just over a minute left in the fourth. That’s when Madison Nguyen made one of the biggest plays of the game for the Bulldogs.

The transfer guard from Crean Lutheran stole the ball with 1:15 remaining and made a breakaway layup while being fouled. The three-point play gave Portola a 54-45 lead with 1:08 left, and highlighted the Bulldogs’ perseverance.

Nguyen picked up her fourth foul early in the third period and spent a considerable time on the bench before banking in her critical shot high off the glass.

“It’s not how hard you get hit but how hard you get hit and keep coming forward,” seventh-year Portola coach Brian Barham said. “It’s like life. Can you just keep persevering and fighting, and the kids we able to persevere and fight.”

“That and-1 finish is exactly what ended the game,” added the coach, whose also navigated three fouls on Booth. “We’re not teaching basketball. We’re teaching life.”

Portola said it felt prepared for an El Capitan team with a 6-foot-2 post and 5-foot-10 forward because of its tough schedule.

The Bulldogs finished second in the Pacific Coast League to Sage Hill, an Open qualifier in the Southern Section. They also played Open qualifier Fairmont Prep, Open champion Ontario Christian, Moreno Valley and JSerra among others.

Portola used the 5-foot-10 Morrell and 5-foot-7 Booth to guard El Capitan’s post players.

“Early on, having these hard games definitely helps us prepare,” Niho said. “Every game now, we know we’ve faced harder teams throughout the year.”

Monache defeated Palos Verdes 45-36 in another second round game.

In other regional games Thursday:

In Division I:

Fairmont Prep 63, Harvard-Westlake 56: Sarah Aldeguer scored 19 points and Maria Mejia and Adyra Rajan added 14 and 13 points, respectively, to pace the top-seeded Huskies (23-10). Fairmont Prep plays host to Windward in the semifinals on Saturday.

Sage Hill 58, Moreno Valley 34: Kamdyn Klamberg scored 17 points and Amalia Holguin had 16 points and four steals to lead the No. 2 Lightning (21-11), who play host to Brentwood in the semifinals Saturday.

In Division V:

Santa Ana 49, University Prep 36: Cynthia Silva scored 21 points and Kalleigh Solis had 11 points as the Saints won on the road to advance to Saturday’s semifinals at Hillcrest. Santa Ana fell to Hillcrest 36-26 in the CIF-SS Division 5-AA final last weekend.

Orange County Register

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Portola girls basketball beats El Capitan to reach CIF SoCal Regional semifinals

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