Almeida had six points at halftime before exploding for 15 more in the second half as the Raiders pulled out the victory.
"It was really exciting," Almeida said. "It was definitely a great experience and it was even better to do it with all these girls."
Almeida is also the daughter of head coach Anna Almeida, who won her second state title in her tenure at Caruthers.
"I would always talk about how I can't wait to be able to be here with her,"
coach Anna Almeida said. "To be able to do this here is really special.
We got what I've waited for."
The Raiders reached the state title after defeating University (San Francisco) 58-55 in the NorCal title game.
In front of hundreds of fans who made the 199-mile trek from the Fresno area, Caruthers scored first and never relinquished the lead at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday.
Senior
Gizelle Aguirre exploded in the first half, scoring 10 of her 14 points in the first two quarters. The point guard also distributed the ball well and only committed one turnover.
"I knew I had to make my last game my best game so I pushed really hard," Aguirre said. "I'm really grateful to be on this team and I'm sad this is ending."
Caruthers won the CIF Division III state championship 54-48 and had a wire-to-wire lead against Granda Hills Charter. (Photo: David Steutel)
Almeida played all 32 minutes and along with her 21 points, passed for nine assists and pulled down six rebounds.
When the lead got cut down to 35-32, Almeida exploded for seven straight points to give the Raiders a 10-point cushion in the third quarter.
Nine seconds into the fourth quarter, Caruthers built its lead up to 15, the biggest of the game for the Raiders. But the Highlanders didn't go away.
Granada Hills Charter, led by head coach Rai Colston finished the season with a 21-12 record and a championship on the Southern side of the bracket.
"I'm proud of their effort and their fight," Colston said. "We stayed in it the whole game so I'm proud of them."
