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Santa Ana Coach Dana Nguyen talks to the Saints during a timeout in Saturday’s CIF finals. (PHOTO: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Santa Ana High School’s girls basketball team captured a 49-36 road victory over No. 2-seeded University Prep on the road Thursday night in the second round of the CIF State Division V Southern California regional confirmed Santa Ana Athletic Director Brian Lillie.
The No. 7-seeded Saints (17-13) move on to face No. 3 Hillcrest Saturday in the semifinals at Hillcrest. Hillcrest defeated Santa Ana 39-36 in the CIF Division 5AA final Saturday at Edison High School.
Cynthia Silva scored 19 points and made four 3-pointers, including two in the fourth quarter, to lead Santa Ana to the win Thursday. Kalleigh Solis added 11 points, nine in the first half.
Santa Ana held a 17-16 lead at halftime before extending the lead in the second half. The Saints led 47-33 with 1:30 remaining in the game, according to Lillie.
“The girls played great team ball tonight and were locked in on defense from the second quarter on,” Lillie said. “Traveling out to Victorville and knocking off the number two seed shows what this team is capable of. The girls are excited to get a rematch against Hillcrest.”
The Saints opened the regional Tuesday with a 42-41 victory over Lindsay at home on a basket in the final seconds by Ashley Mendoza. Coach Dana Nguyen said it was the first victory for the program in the state playoffs.
The winner of Saturday’s game faces the winner of the other semifinal between No. 8 St. Pius X-St. Mathias vs. No. 4 Rosamond in the Southern California final next Tuesday with the winner moving on to the state finals the following Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m. in Sacramento.
The team with the highest seed earns the home game in the state tournament.