Amalia Holguin, the last of a group of girls coached by the late Kobe Bryant, looks to capture another California state title Friday when she leads
Sage Hill (Newport Beach) against
Carondelet (Concord) in the Division I final.
Bryant, who finished his Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016, began coaching his daughter Gianna on a club team he created at The Mamba Academy. Bryant, Gianna and seven others were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020 on their way to play a game.
Among the 11 players on the team were five who went on to play at Sage Hill. Kat Righeimer, Annabelle Spotts, Emily Eadie, and Zoie Lamkin all graduated from the Newport Beach school last season, Holguin's sophomore year.
Amalia Holguin of Sage Hill was one of the players on Kobe Bryant's Mamba Academy AAU team before the Lakers legend died in a 2020 helicopter crash. The junior looks to lead the Lightning to their second state title on Friday in the Division II final against Carondelet. (FILE PHOTO: Darin Sicurello)
Now a junior, Holguin looks to lead Sage Hill to a second state title after winning the Division II crown as a freshman. She scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the second half of Tuesday's 52-41 Southern California regional final win over Windward (Los Angeles).
"He was like the person who made me, like, love basketball; someone who made me really enjoy it," Holguin told
Los Angeles NBC4 in 2024.
She has #4the8 on her social media in reference to Bryant's jersey number with the Lakers when he retired.
A hard-nosed guard who has offers from Louisville and Cal, Holguin is averaging 14.2 points, 4.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game.
Sage Hill (23-11) has played an aggressive schedule, competing in the Nike Tournament of Champions in addition to the Southern Section Open Division before being dropped to Division I for the SoCal regionals.
Of the team's 11 losses, five have come to teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25.
