Telepeer

Raylene Valadez lifts Hillcrest girls basketball team past Santa Ana, into Division V regional final

March 9, 2025

RIVERSIDE — Raylene Valadez cried it out at halftime, then made sure the other team left in tears.

Less than two months since returning from a torn ACL that kept her out all of last year and half of this season, Valadez totaled a career-high 20 points as the Hillcrest girls basketball team defeated Santa Ana 48-33 in a CIF State Division V regional semifinal Saturday night.

“After the first half, (Valadez) was in the locker room crying,” Hillcrest coach Chloe Wells said. “She was like, ‘I can’t do it. Take me out,’ and I’m like, ‘Ray, you’re our best option and you’re playing great.’

“And her sisters are in that locker room saying, ‘Ray, we believe in you. You have to keep going,’” Wells said. “(Valadez) and Daisy Ingram, they stayed in there and cried, and Ray came out and she was a different person in the second half.”

Valadez finished 4 of 8 from 3-point range for Hillcrest (24-6 overall) and was 7 of 16 from the field overall with four rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocks.

“We sat on that bench and I spoke life into her and said, ‘Ray, you can do this.’” Wells said. “Once she got back in there she was lights out and literally led us in every way.”

The Trojans host Rosamond in the Division V title game on Tuesday and are one win away from advancing the state final for the first time.

“We’ve come a long way,” Valadez said. “Being able to keep going; a lot of teams’ seasons ended early so this is very exciting and I’m grateful for it.”

After narrowly defeating Santa Ana 39-36 in the Southern Section Division 5AA championship game a week prior, Wells knew team defense would mean the difference in the rematch.

“We had to identify who the hot hand was going to be and shut that down,” Wells said. “Once we did that the whole game opened up for us.”

Valadez scored the first seven points of the game for Hillcrest – including her first 3-pointer with a second remaining in the first quarter – and then took over as the Trojans’ primary ball handler after guards Daisy Ingram and Amaya Branchcomb turned the ball over multiple times.

“In the first half, I felt like I had to take care of the ball more and that all the weight was on my shoulders,” Valadez said.

Santa Ana played without starting guard Yarexy Diaz (flu) but jumped out to a six-point lead early in the second quarter on a pair of 3s from Jazmine Solis.

“Not having (Diaz) was a big, big loss for us,” Santa Ana coach Dana Nguyen said. “We had trouble scoring, and when we have trouble scoring we look bad.”

Hillcrest’s Za’Nylah Jackson and Branchcomb both got inside for baskets, and Valadez sank her second 3-pointer to help the Trojans briefly retake the lead before they headed into halftime tied at 16.

In the third quarter, Zoey Boulware sank a pair of free throws before Valadez, Branchcomb and Valadez sank back-to-back-to-back 3s, helping Hillcrest push its lead to 10 points.

“In the second half my teammates, they lifted me back up, helped us up strong and pushed through,” Valadez said. “I’m really proud of my team.”

After getting called for a technical foul, Boulware’s physical presence in the paint wore down Santa Ana’s inside defenders and relieved pressure on Hillcrest’s perimeter players.

“She’s a game-changer for us,” Wells said. “We call her ‘The Assassin’ because she’s literally a killer.”

Hillcrest’s leading scorer at 13.8 points per game, Boulware finished with six points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

“She cleans up every rebound, she can go coast-to-coast and when she is locked in we are a completely different team,” Wells said.

Branchcomb was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and added 10 points, three assists and three steals for Hillcrest.

Solis was 5 of 16 from the field with 16 points and three steals for Santa Ana (17-13) in the season-ending loss.

Orange County Register

News Details

Raylene Valadez lifts Hillcrest girls basketball team past Santa Ana, into Division V regional final

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS