PHOTOS: Santa Ana falls to Hillcrest in CIF State Division V So Cal regional semifinal

Santa Ana’s Ashley Mendoza and Alexandra Sanchez of Hillcrest fight for the loose ball Saturday. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Santa Ana’s girls basketball team’s bid for a state championship came to an end Saturday night as the Saints fell to No. 3-seeded Hillcrest of Riverside 48-33 in a CIF State Division V Southern California regional semifinal game at Hillcrest.

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The host Trojans (24-5) won their 16^th consecutive game, including their 11th straight at home. Hillcrest, the Inland Valley League champions, last lost a game on Jan. 4 to Bonita.

No. 7-seeded Santa Ana finished the season 17-15.

Hillcrest advances to the So Cal regional finals and will travel on Tuesday to Rosamond, who defeated St. Pius-St. Matthias 59-50 on Saturday in the other semifinal contest. The winner of Tuesday’s match will travel to Sacramento to play in the state finals next weekend.    

Raylene Valadez scored 20 points and teammate Amaya Branchcomb added 10 points to lead Hillcrest. The Trojans defeated Santa Ana 39-36 last Saturday at Edison to win the CIF Division 5AA championship.

However, this contest was different.

After the game was tied 16-16 at halftime, Hillcrest broke it open with a strong third quarter. Valadez scored 10 points in the quarter and the Trojans outscored the Saints 17-9 in the quarter to build a 33-25 lead after three periods. 

“We had trouble scoring and the shots were not falling for us,” said Santa Ana Coach Dana Nguyen. “We didn’t have our point guard, Yarexy Diaz, who couldn’t play because she has the flu, and that hurt us. I don’t think anyone expected us to go this far. We were the last team to earn a bid in the playoffs. I am so proud of these girls. They took it as far as we could, and they played hard.”

The Saints shooting woes in the second half continued as they were able to make just four baskets.

“They got stronger on defense in the second half, and it was tougher for me to get open and to get shots,” said Santa Ana senior guard Kalleigh Solis, who was playing with an injured thumb but still was able to lead the Saints with 16 points, including two 3-pointers. “We went through so much this season, and we improved in every game, and we pushed hard to win.”

Santa Ana cut the lead to 35-27 on Solis’ free throw with 6:45 remaining, but the Saints outside shooting went cold for the rest of the game. In the meantime, Alex Sanchez, Zoey Boulware and Branchcomb led an aggressive and consistent Trojans attack allowing Hillcrest to cruise to the victory.

“We came out a little slow in the second half and they got a few easy baskets and then we weren’t able to stop them,” said Saints forward Cynthia Silva. “We were down a player, but everyone stepped up. I’m proud of our team, we never let up and we gave it everything we had.”

Solis’ 3-pointer gave Santa Ana a 13-7 lead at the 6:30 mark of the second quarter, but Hillcrest went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. Silva’s basket in the final 30 seconds of the quarter tied the game at 16-16 just before halftime.   

Kim Perez scored eight points, Ashely Mendoza added five and Silva scored four points for the Saints. Santa Ana’s defense forced 23 Hillcrest turnovers, but the Saints also committed 19 turnovers.

Notes:

—-Hillcrest coach Chloe Wells, along with her sister Lola as assistant coach, took over as the Trojans coaches this year after Hillcrest won only seven games last season. It is Wells’ first coaching job, and she led Hillcrest to its first CIF championship last week and the school’s first appearance in the state regional championship. “Faith and hard work are the keys to our success,” she said.  

—-Hillcrest defeated Marshall and Crawford to reach the semifinals, while Santa Ana defeated Lindsay and University Prep in the first two rounds.