RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Santa Margarita coach Matt Houser said the Eagles “ride or die” with their lone senior, Zaire Williams.
Saturday night, they rode to a 69-57 victory over La Canada in a Division 3A semifinal at Santa Margarita, with Williams’ 24 points leading the way.
“I’m just so proud of them right now and especially Z(aire), she really took them on her shoulders right now,” Houser said. “And it’s probably going to happen again in the finals, she’s going to have to do it in the finals.”
The Eagles (17-13) will face Inglewood in the Division 3A final next weekend at Honda Center.
“I never knew we were going to be here this year,” Houser said. “I thought we’d make a good run, but I didn’t think we were going to be this young here at this point.”
Other than Williams, the Eagles rely heavily on underclassmen and two juniors. Santa Margarita got double-digit scoring Saturday from freshman Tori Anderson (14 points) and sophomore Catie Woodward (13 points).
“The one thing that’s different from our groups before is our freshmen and sophomores are relentless, they don’t give up. … That’s what I love about this team,” Houser said. “I’m watching them grow every single practice, every single game they’re growing. It’s great.”
The semifinal was a rematch of last season’s quarterfinals, when the Spartans knocked the Eagles out of the playoffs with a two-point win at La Canada.
Saturday at home, the Eagles got out to a 16-9 after the first quarter and stretched the advantage to 30-21 at halftime.
After trailing by 18 going into the fourth quarter, La Canada (23-6) fought back to within eight, 57-65, with 53 seconds left. Santa Margarita secured the win with free throws down the stretch.
Keilee Bessho led La Canada with 19 points and Sarah Kurdoghlian added 10.
Contact the writer: jwilkinson@ocregister.com
