In their first round of CIF-SS, the Sunny Hills girls basketball team defeated Lakewood High School 40-25 on Thursday, Feb. 12, advancing to the second round.

The game opened with both teams trading baskets throughout the first quarter, which led the team to end the quarter with a tie of 10-10.

However, shooting guard senior Kayla Ma said that she never doubted the team’s ability to pull ahead.

“Even though we were tied, I was still feeling confident,” she said. “As a team, our energy is consistent throughout the game, and we tend to do better in the second half as other teams begin to get tired.”

Head coach Jae Byun said the atmosphere of the game remained enthusiastic and more physical than other ones.

“It’s always a little more amped,” Byun said. “Everyone’s playing like their season is on the line — which it is; it was more physical, but I thought we didn’t back down.”

Ma said that in the second quarter, the Lady Lancers began to create separation when point and shooting guard junior Rianna Jones sparked the offense with a basket, followed by scoring from center senior Noehlia Reuter and shooting guard sophomore Allie Sexton, who scored her first basket of the game.

“I felt happy because it was my first point of the game,” Sexton said. “I knew it was a high-pressure game, but if I made a mistake, I just had to get it back on defense; it’s not that big of a deal as long as you make up for it.”

The Lady Lancers took a 25-10 lead into halftime, but decided to shift their focus to consistency for the second half of the game, the head coach said. 

“We wanted to make them earn every basket and be really stingy defensively,” Byun said. “Offensively, we just wanted to take care of the ball and get good shots.”

Byun said the Lady Lancers had the biggest shift in momentum during their third quarter, extending their lead to 31-20.

“In the third quarter, we hit a couple of shots and took about a 10 or 12 point lead,” Byun said. “That felt like the turning point.”

In the fourth quarter, point guard senior Sydney Kim said her basket confirmed a win for the team. With the Lady Lancers holding a single-digit cushion, she made a larger gap in the lead in Sunny Hills’ favor.

“We were up by nine or 10, and that’s a good cushion, but it’s not enough to feel secure,” Kim said. “I hit a three, and then we hit another one afterward, and that kind of sealed it.”

Sunny Hills maintained control the rest of the way and remained victorious with a final score of 40-25, Ma said.

For Kim, she said the win meant more than just advancing, since she worried that this would be her last game in a Lancer jersey.

“Extending our season means everything since I just want to enjoy basketball as much as I can before it’s over,” Kim said. “Before the game, my parents reminded me to just play my game and give it everything, because I didn’t want to end the season with regrets.”

Jones said the experience of playing in CIF carried a special significance.

“I’ve never been to CIF before, so it means a lot,” Jones said. “It’s an opportunity to extend our season with our seniors. I don’t want them to leave.”

Jones said that she mentally prepared a lot for this game since it required much focus and determination.

“I just took time to breathe and block everything out,” she said. “When one person hits a shot, it gives everyone momentum.”

Byun said the team’s maturity and preparation helped with the outcome.

“We had three days of prep, and our practice squad did a great job getting us ready,” Byun said. “We didn’t change our defense — we stuck with it [and] in the second half, we just hit a couple of shots we missed earlier, and that was the difference.”

After a hard-fought 40–25 victory, Byun said the Lady Lancers now turn their focus to keeping their postseason run alive.

“We’ve played in a lot of close games this season; we have seniors, a big, a guard and a shooter — usually that’s a good recipe for winning,” the coach said. “Now we just have to stick to our defensive plan.” 

The Lady Lancers will advance to their second-round matchup at 5 p.m. against Tesoro High School at the SH gym on Saturday, Feb. 14.