Sierra Canyon celebrates its third straight state title.
Photo by David Steutel
had 24 points and
Kennedy Burke 14 as
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) won its third straight state championship with a 69-56 win over
Brookside Christian (Stockton, Calif.) in the California Division IV finals at Haas Pavilion on the campus of the University of California.
Cheyanne Wallace, Sierra Canyon
Photo by David Steutel
The game was close until the San Fernando Valley school pulled away in the fourth.
Sierra Canyon (25-5) led 20-9 after one quarter and 33-23 at the half, but after their lead got to 44-31 with 1:15 left in the third quarter, Brookside went on a 9-0 run that made it 44-40 early in the final period.
From there the Sierra Canyon senior trio of Wallace, Burke and
Gabi Nevill took charge.
Besides her 24 points, Wallace had nine rebounds. Burke, a UCLA commit, added 14 rebounds, six blocks and three assists. And Nevil had seven of her nine points in the final 4:30. Sophomore
Alexis Griggsby added 11 points and eight rebounds.
"I'm very proud of what these girls have done from the first day I was hired. It's been an incredible journey, said Sierra Canyon head coach Alicia Komaki, a former Mater Dei assistant who has won three straight titles since she took over.
Aarion Mcdonald, a 5-6 guard and Washington-commit, had 26 points, 14 rebounds and four steals.
Ra'kyra Gabriel added 13 points.
Aarion McDonald, Brookside Christian
Photo by David Steutel
"We came up short today but this game will be a motivation for us to come back and win it all next year," McDonald remarked
Brookside head coach Pico Wilburn was trying to be the third coach to win state titles with two different teams. Wilburn coached Oakland Tech, a squad that won back-to-back titles in 2004-05
"It's an honor just to be in a game like this but we played sloppy in the first half and committed too many turnovers," Wilburn said. "We came back to get to four by putting the petal to the metal but it took all our gas. Bottom line is the better team won today."
Sierra Canyon 69, Brookside Christian 56
SIERRA CANYON (25-5)Gabi Nevill 3-15 2-2 9, Cheyanne Wallace 8-12 6-8 24, Kennedy Burke 5-11 4-5 14, Ryanne Payne 2-6 3-3 7, Alexis Grigsby 4-9 3-4 11, Spencer Vinson 1-1 0-0 2, Tori Nevill 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-56 14-18 69.
BROOKSIDE CHRISTIAN (27-4)Aarion McDonald 10-22 5-8 26, Kendall Weary 1-8 1-2 3, Ra'kyra Gabriel 6-14 0-2 13, Shane Lewis 1-4 2-2 4, Ariana Vaughn 3-18 1-2 8, Ashleyn Lockard 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-68 9-16 56.
Sierra Canyon 20 13 11 25 — 69
Brookside Christian 9 14 15 18 — 56
3-point goals: Wallace 2, G. Nevil, McDonald, Gabriel, Vaughn
Rebounds: Sierra Canyon 44 (Burke 14), Brookside Christian 39 (McDonald 14).
Turnovers: SC 23, BC 22.
Sierra Canyon won its first title at Division IV.
Photo by David Steutel
