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Santa Ana’s girls basketball team will be in Saturday’s CIF finals. (Photo courtesy Santa Ana High School).
Santa Ana High School’s girls basketball team has a chance to bring home a CIF title again.
The Saints, after defeating St. Pius Academy/St. Matthias 45-32 in the semifinals Saturday night at home, move on to face Hillcrest Saturday at 10 a.m. in the CIF 5AA championship game at Edison High School.
It will be the second time Santa Ana has advanced to the finals.
“It is very exciting,” said Saints Coach Dana Nguyen. “We were in the finals in 2022 and never previously.”
In Saturday’s home victory, Santa Ana (16-12) was led by Kalleigh Solis with 25 points and Cynthia Silva with six points and seven rebounds.
Santa Ana also had CIF playoff wins over Carpinteria (41-37), Charter Oak (61-53) and Rancho Alamitos (48-27). Santa Ana finished fourth in the Golden West League.
Hillcrest, the Inland Valley League champion from Riverside, advanced with victories over Adelanto (53-34), Fullerton (32-27), Loara (39-27) and Nordhoff (55-51). The Trojans are 21-6 overall.
Santa Ana lost to top-seeded Price of Los Angeles 43-35 in the 5A final in 2022.
“Yarexy Diaz was our starting point guard as a freshman on that 2022 runner-up team,” said Santa Ana Athletic Director Brian Lillie.
Both teams have also qualified for the CIF Southern California regionals that begin next week.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com