Three-point shooting lifts Buena Park to league victory against Segerstrom

Buena Park’s basketball team after Wednesday’s league victory. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Buena Park’s girls basketball team drilled 12 3-pointers en route to a 69-43 victory over Segerstrom in a Golden Empire League game Wednesday afternoon at Buena Park.

Buena Park (17-4, 5-0) came out firing from the opening tip-off to remain in first place in league. Buena Park has won five of its last six games.

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Coyotes senior guard Ava Wiley scored 21 points, and her seven 3-pointers was a career high.

“We lost our last game, so this is a nice comeback win for us,” said Wiley. “Our communication was good tonight, and we must continue to improve on that part of our game.”

Wiley’s teammate, senior forward Jordyn McKnight, was dominant and led all scorers with 22 points and pulled down double digits in rebounds. On numerous occasions, McKnight scored after grabbing an offensive rebound.

“I have a goal to become the leading single-season rebounder in Buena Park history,” said McKnight, who along with Kerianne Taaga limited the Jaguars to one shot on offense. “My coach tells me I have a shot at the record, but I have some work to do but it’s within reach.”

McKnight and JoJo Holder combined to score 15 points in the opening quarter to help the Coyotes build a 21-10 lead after eight minutes of play.

“We were talking as a team during the game, and we brought good energy but there is still room for improvement,” said Holder, who scored 16 points and made three 3-pointers. “We need to continue to step it up as we get closer to the playoffs.”    

Wiley put on a shooting clinic in the second quarter as she nailed four 3-pointers, including three in the final 2:10 of the period to propel her team to a 38-18 lead at halftime.

The trio of Holder, McKnight and Wiley combined to score 13 points in the third quarter as they continued to press the action as Buena Park extended its lead.

Destiny McNabb scored from beyond the arc down the stretch to help lift the Coyotes to a 55-28 lead after three periods. Buena Park put on an excellent display of passing and executing their offense for much of the game and their bigs dominated the glass.   

Despite the large deficit, Segerstrom (16-6, 2-3) played hard and finished strong, scoring on seven of their last eight possessions of the game.

Jaguars coach Valentin Valencia said the rebounding was the difference in the game.

“They dominated the boards and that made it tough on us,” said Valencia, who is in his first year as the Jaguars head coach. “They had a lot of put backs, and we turned the ball over a lot.”  

Segerstrom committed 15 turnovers.

Buena Park Coach DeAnthony Wiley was happy with the win but said the team can still improve.

“I didn’t think we played as well as we could have in the first half, our passing wasn’t as crisp as it should be, but we cleaned it up in the second half,” said Wiley.  

April Valenciano led Segerstrom with 17 points and Kamila Flores added 12 points.

“We have to continue to work hard at rebounding,” said Valenciano. “We’ll learn from this game, take lessons from it and move forward.”

Notes:

—Aside from being the girls’ basketball coach for the last eight years, Wiley is also in charge of basketball operations for the Buena Park program. His daughter, Ava Wiley, is the staring guard for the Coyotes and has been a key contributor all season.

—-Valencia was hired one month before the start of the 2025-26 season. His son, Valentin Valencia Jr. serves as his assistant. Valencia formerly coached at Calvary Chapel.

—The Jaguars were without the services of several key players due to injuries. Vivenne Noriega, a sophomore forward is most likely lost for the season after spraining her thumb during a volleyball practice. Noriega plays on the Segerstrom volleyball team as well. Senior center Sophia Serrano and freshmen forward Jaida Cervantes missed Tuesday’s game with knee injuries. Their return is unknown. “They all would have helped with rebounding,” said Valencia.

—Segerstrom had its three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 11-5 on the road this season.