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Portola High School’s girls basketball team had a memorable season. (Photo courtesy Lisa Chen).
Portola High School’s girls basketball team made some history this season, advancing the farthest in post-season play than any squad in the program’s history.
The Bulldogs advanced into the semifinal round of both the CIF 2AA and CIF State Southern California Division II tournaments.
“Portola girls basketball just had our most successful season,” said Coach Brian Barham. “As a program, our goal is never to take a step backwards. This season, we faced our biggest challenge because we had to replace Kira Watanabe (Chapman University) and Kalynne Mendez (Westcliff University).
“Knowing this, we played our toughest schedule ever to prepare. The early adversity paid off and we went on our deepest CIF run ever. We reached the semifinals in both the CIF 2AA and the CIF State Regional Tournament.”
In the CIF Southern Section playoffs, Portola (19-16) defeated Camarillo 57-50, Campbell Hall 51-42 and top-seeded Buena Park on the road 66-62. Portola lost to Oak Park 67-23 on the road in the semifinals.
In the CIF State Southern California regional playoffs, Portola reached the semifinals, losing to top-seeded Monache 55-43 on the road.
Portola opened with a 62-46 victory over Victory Christian then topped El Capitan 57-49.
Portola was led during the season by Nina Saiki, who averaged 12 points a game.
“Halfway through the season, Nina hit the 1,000 career point mark,” Barham said. “She finished her Portola career as our second leading scorer behind her sister Moka. Our team really took off after Madison Nguyen finished the sit-out period.
“The Crean Lutheran transfer averaged 11 points per game while dishing the ball to her playmakers. Kira Niho continued to be a threat from deep averaging 10 points a game. Amelia Booth handled most of the dirty work while averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. She finished the season averaging 10 points and 12 rebounds (a game), which is the second most in Orange County.”
Portola finished second in the Pacific Coast League with a 6-2 record behind Sage Hill, which has advanced to the CIF Division I state final.
—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
