CIF Division 2 State Tournament

13 Gardena: 59

4 Valencia: 72

Gardena scored the first two points of the game, the only problem was they scored them for Valencia–wrong basket. From then on, Valencia never trailed, leading by 15 at the half and 17 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter would be unnerving, however, as the Vikings (with some reserves in) slept walk through the majority of the quarter and saw a 17 point lead get cut by Gardena to five. With 1:38 remaining it was a 64-59 game and momentum was in Gardena’s favor.

Ultimately, Valencia refocused to ice the game with some free throws and they move on in their first-ever State Tournament home game.

Jake Hylwiak (game-high 23 points) and Noah Veluzat (16 points) combined for nine three-pointers to pace the Vikings. Foothill Player of the Year Richard Kawakami sat almost the entire game after grabbing five rebounds in the first quarter.

The 4-seed will have at least one more home game Thursday, hosting 12-seed Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) in the 2nd Round. The Dons upset La Canada 67-55 on Tuesday.

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9 Santa Clarita Christian: 59

8 Poway: 53

The Cardinals used a big second quarter to push past Poway, outscoring the Titans 24-15 to take a 38-32 lead into halftime. They held the lead the rest of the way, knocking out the 8-seed on the road.

Kevin Stone and Leroy Thompson combined for 33 points in the game.

SCCS is rewarded with another road trip to the top seed in the division for Southern California, Rancho Cucamonga, on Thursday night. The Cougars defeated Valencia in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA semifinals eleven days ago.

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