Late rally falls short for Sage Hill girls’ basketball in CIF title game

ORANGE —  The warm-ups of the Sage Hill School girls’ basketball team read, “Respect all,” on the front.

On the back it says, “Fear none.”

The No. 2-seeded Lightning did not fear as they went into a hostile environment Saturday night in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA title game, and surged to a halftime lead.

But a rough third quarter proved their undoing at top-seeded Orange Lutheran.

A late rally fell short, as did the hopes of the Lightning claiming their second straight CIF Southern Section title.

Orange Lutheran held on for a 66-61 victory. Sophomore forward Sheridan Kennedy had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Lancers (25-8), who got to cut down the nets in their home gym after the buzzer.

Sage Hill’s Annabelle Spotts is fouled while trying to score two against Orange Lutheran in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA title game Saturday.

(Drew A. Kelley)

The season is not over for Sage Hill (23-10). The Lightning will play in the CIF State Southern California Regional Playoffs next week.

Senior point guard Isabel Gomez had 20 points and five steals for Sage Hill. Sophomore Emily Eadie added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

“It was definitely a tight match,” Gomez said. “You have to give credit to them, because they got the job done. I thought that if we had just rebounded a little bit more and played a little bit better defense on some of their shooters, it might have gone a different way. But I’m really proud of our group for sticking it out and battling to the end.”

Orange Lutheran took a 59-47 lead early in the fourth quarter on the second straight three-pointer by Mikayla Holmes. The Lightning cut the lead to three, at 64-61, on a put-back by Kat Righeimer with 24 seconds left.

But they wouldn’t get closer. After Orange Lutheran’s Kelly Garrity made one of two free throws, a corner three-pointer by the Lightning missed and the ball went out of bounds.

Sage Hill’s Zoie Lamkin, right, competes for possession of the ball during the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA title game against Orange Lutheran on Saturday.

(Drew A. Kelley)

Sage Hill, last year’s Division 3AA champion, missed two more shots from downtown in the closing seconds.

“It was really fun playing them,” said Righeimer, who had 13 points. “We just need to it one game at a time and work on what we could have done better. We got out-rebounded today, so we’re just going to take that into practice ... We’re still pushing and we’re going to play hard in state [playoffs] next week.”

Kennedy was tenacious throughout for Orange Lutheran, getting all of her points close to the rim and battling on the boards.

“We all knew the bigs had to come ready,” she said. “The mindset was there. Even in shoot-around, we were doing layups and all of that. The bigs were just a big part of the game.”

The Lightning came out a bit tentative and trailed 14-7 late in the first quarter, before a put-back from Eadie and lay-up by Annabelle Spotts cut the hosts’ lead to three at the quarter buzzer.

Sage Hill took its first lead, at 24-23, midway through the second quarter on a steal and three-point play by Gomez.

Gomez, the Lightning’s only senior starter, also hit three straight three-pointers before halftime. At one point, she answered back-to-back triples by Orange Lutheran’s Princess Cassell.

Sage Hill owned a 35-32 halftime lead. But the Lancers’ Shea Joko hit a trio of three-pointers in the third quarter, when Orange Lutheran outscored the visitors by a 24-10 margin.

Sage Hill’s Kat Righeimer passes the ball during the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA title game Saturday night.

(Drew A. Kelley)

Sage Hill coach Kerwin Walters said his message to the team was two-fold after Saturday’s loss.

“One, I love this team and how we just keep fighting,” he said. “We don’t quit. And I just told them, it’s not over yet. [Corona] Centennial is a prime example of that. Centennial last year lost to Mater Dei [in the CIF Southern Section Open Division final], and came back and won state. We can be that team. We’ve got to come in and just play.”

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CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs

Championship game

Orange Lutheran 66, Sage Hill 61

Sage Hill 11 - 24 - 10 - 16 — 61

Orange Lutheran 14 - 18 - 24 - 10 — 66

SH — Gomez 20, Eadie 14, Righeimer 13, Spotts 9, Lamkin 3, Shean 2.

3-pt. goals — Gomez 5, Eadie 2, Righeimer 1, Lamkin 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.

OL — Kennedy 18, Joko 11, Garrity 11, McFerson 9, Holmes 6, P. Cassell 6, A. Cassell 5.

3-pt. goals — Joko 3, Holmes 3, P. Cassell 2, Garrity 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.

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