ANAHEIM — The Fairmont Prep girls basketball team ran into a juggernaut in the form of Windward in the Division I semifinals of the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs Saturday at Fairmont Prep Academy.
The Wildcats hit 10 3-pointers and seemed to keep Fairmont Prep, the No. 1 seed, in disarray throughout their 79-55 victory over the Huskies.
Windward (21-10) will play No. 2 seed Sage Hill in the regional final Tuesday at Sage Hill. The Lightning defeated Brentwood, 59-39, in the other regional semifinal.
“When anyone shoots like that, they are going to win the basketball game,” Fairmont Prep coach Josh Lazano said of Windward. “When they are shooting 50-plus percent, it’s really hard to beat teams like that, especially in the playoffs.”
The Wildcats also made it tough for Fairmont Prep’s scorers.
When the Huskies (23-11) worked the ball into the post, there was at least one Wildcat defender positioned there to disrupt the shot.
The Wildcats hit five 3-pointers in the second quarter, en route to a 20-point lead at the half.
Fairmont Prep opened the third quarter with a mini four-point run and when the Wildcats came up empty on their first three possessions of the quarter, it appeared as though the Huskies had grabbed the momentum.
But the notion of a comeback ended quickly when Olivia Lagao hit a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats ahead by 22.
The Huskies, who finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in Orange County, never cut the deficit to below 20 the rest of the way and fell behind by 30 points midway through the final quarter.
The outcome was completely different than the last time the teams met in the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs, when Fairmont Prep defeated the Wildcats 69-65 in a pool-play game at Windward.
Wildcats coach Rachel Schrote said her team learned a lot from that first matchup and made several adjustments.
“They went to the free throw line 26 times last time,” Schrote said. “That was a huge (advantage)… They were 22 for 26, we were 3 for 5. So, we really worked on walling up, making sure we don’t commit silly fouls, and doubling down on rebounds.
Maria Mejia scored 18 points to lead the Huskies and Sarah Aldeguer added 12.
Lozano was pleased with the Huskies’ overall performance this season, considering they played in the Open Division of the CIF-SS playoffs after losing in the quarterfinal round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs last season.
The Huskies were in Division I of the regional playoffs for the first time since 2017, the coach said.
“We’ve got a good group coming back, so we expect to be back in the Open next year,” Lozano said. “Our goal is to overachieve. Our goal is to play against the best all the time.”
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