SACRAMENTO – Woodland Christian (Woodland) went back-to-back on Friday in the CIF Division V girls bracket to kick off state championship weekend at Golden 1 Center.
The Woodland Christian Cardinals celebrate on center court of Golden 1 Center after winning back-to-back CIF state titles. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
Woodland Christian has proven a knack of late for making deep runs in the CIF regional brackets despite falling short in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The Cardinals reached the NorCal semifinals in 2024 before back-to-back state championship wins.
"Last year, we got the one-seed, so we got to go from Golden 1 to
four home games and then Golden 1 again," Woodland Christian head coach
Shiloh Sorbello said. "This year we had to be road warriors."
Laguna Hills overcame and avenged an early Southern Section playoff loss against
Schurr (Montebello) from a year ago with a 43-24 win that vaulted the Hawks into the D-V title game. Laguna Hills also knocked off defending SoCal champion and top-seeded
Rosamond along the way.
Laguna Hills broke a six-minute scoreless drought to open the game and took a brief 5-4 lead before the Cardinals ended the first quarter on a Broward buzzer-beater to go up 9-5. Woodland Christian then went on a 23-2 run highlighted by triples from Baker and Sofia Sorbello, catapulting the Cardinals to a 33-11 cushion at the break.
Woodland Christian junior Siena Sorbello drives for two of her game high 21 points in the CIF Division V state championship game. (PHOTO: David Steutel)
Siena Sorbello finished with 21 points and six rebounds. Broward had a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards. Sofia Sorbello had seven points and 13 assists while Baker had nine point, nine rebounds and eight steals for Woodland Christian (33-3).
