By Joe Snyder
After great success over several seasons, Serra High head girls’ basketball coach McKenzie Hadley had to face a few down seasons that saw his squad fail to make it to the CIF-Southern Section playoffs in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons and getting eliminated in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division IVA playoffs by North Hollywood Oakwood Academy last year.
For the first time in seven years, the Lady Cavaliers will play in the finals of the CIF-Southern Section Division IVAA championship game after topping Leuzinger High from Lawndale 65-53 in the semifinals last Saturday at Serra.
The Cavaliers will face Tesoro High from Rancho Santa Margarita Saturday at 2 p.m. at Edison High in Huntington Beach. Tesoro advanced with a 50-44 semifinal win over top seed Anaheim Savanna on Friday.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Hadley said. “I am proud of our girls. We’re coming together at the right time. We played good defense (against Leuzinger). Our seniors, Jadah Foster and Saniaya Johnson, along with our super soph (sophomore) Kaisha Snelson had been playing very well. We want to win CIF then compete for state.”
After a 13-13 tie at the end of the first quarter in Saturday’s contest against the Lady Olympians, who finished third behind co-champions Culver City and Lawndale in the Ocean League, Serra started the second period with a 9-0 run for a 22-13 lead. The Cavaliers, who placed third, behind champion Lakewood St. Joseph and runner-up Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart in the Camino Real League and are 18-11 overall, led 28-24 at halftime after a lay-up by Feja Williams.
Serra started pulling away from Leuzinger by ending the third quarter with a 10-4 run and led by as many as 13 points in the fourth period.
Mariyah Lewis led the Cavaliers with 15 points. Snelson added 14 points that included a third quarter ending three-point basket.
After struggling through its 42-39 overtime second-round win over Anaheim High on Feb. 15 at Serra, the Cavaliers expected to face a tough quarterfinal challenge against La Quinta High from Westminster on Feb. 19 at home.
Instead, Serra’s stingy defense led to several Aztec turnovers and breakaway lay-ups keyed the Cavaliers to a 54-26 blowout victory.
Serra raced out to a 31-10 halftime lead, then held La Quinta to 16 second half points.
The Cavaliers’ balanced scoring was led by Snelson with 14 points and freshman Yve Young with 12. Lewis chipped in nine points.
Natalie Tran led the Aztecs with eight points.
Seven years ago, Serra advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Open Division but got into Division I for the CIF-State playoffs where it won the championship. The Cavaliers won the Division I crown in 2017.
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North overcomes slow start to defeat PV; advances to IIAA finals
Last Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section Division IIAA semifinals matched two of the top girls’ basketball teams in the South Bay between host North Torrance and Palos Verdes Saturday at North.
These two teams saw each other in non-league play in December as the Sea Kings topped the Saxons 55-48.
It began like Palos Verdes, the Pioneer League champion and last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division IVA champion, would get another win over North. The Sea Kings jumped out to a 22-12 lead after the first quarter. That was when the Saxons began the second period with a 15-0 run and led 27-22 with 3:43 left before halftime. In that span, Palos Verdes missed six shots and had three turnovers after a hot first quarter.
North went on another big run at 11-4 in the final four minutes of the third period and cruised to a 58-44 victory.
Leading the Saxons, who were co-Bay League champions with Manhattan Beach Mira Costa and are 20-6 overall, was sophomore guard Camryn Shinazaki with 18 points. Junior forward-guard Leila Fitzgerald added 13 points and senior guard Sage Misuni chipped in 12.
North, the playoffs’ second seed, moves on to its first Southern Section championship since winning the Division IIIAA crown in the 2014-15 season when it takes on Oak Park High Friday at 8 p.m. at the Toyota Arena in Ontario.
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GHS boys, girls’ teams ousted in playoffs
Gardena High’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams saw their 2024-25 season end with CIF-Los Angeles City Section quarterfinal losses last week.
The Panther boys lost to host and top-seeded Granada Hills High 57-39 in Division I action on Saturday.
Willie Denham led Gardena with 17 points.
Gardena ended its season at 15-13 after finishing third in the Marine League at 6-4. San Pedro won the league, followed by second place Narbonne. Both were also eliminated as the Pirates were ousted in the first round while the Gauchos lost in the quarters.
At Marquez High in Huntington Park last Thursday, the Panthers won a low scoring game over host King-Drew Medical Magnet 36-33.
The Golden Eagles took an 11-6 lead after the first quarter and led 18-10 at halftime but Gardena bounced back to outscore King-Drew 26-15 in the second half to pull out the win.
In the CIF-L.A. City Section Division II playoffs, the host Lady Panthers, fifth seed, won their first-round game over GALA (Girls’ Academy of Los Angeles) 29-24 but fell in the quarterfinals to fourth seed and host Grant 57-20 last Friday in Van Nuys.
Gardena ended its season at 13-16. Last year, the Lady Panthers won the L.A. City Section Division IV crown but moved two positions up.
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Serra has strong look at relays
Serra High’s boys’ and girls’ track and field teams opened their 2025 season in the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbit Relays with very good showings last Saturday.
The Cavalier boys enjoyed wins by senior Otis “Tre” Harrison who captured the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at 40.0 seconds. Harrison was last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division IV champion clocking 38.8 seconds.
Harrison was also on Serra’s 4×100-meter relay team that finished third, behind champion Long Beach Poly and second-place Mission Hills Alemany in 43.03. The Jackrabbits, who are already defending two-time California state champions and are expected to have one of the top sprint relay teams in the United States, won handily timing 40.71. Poly has a crack of breaking the national record of 39.76. Alemany was second in 42.06. Other runners include Lawson Griggs-Andrews, Landon Thomas and anchor Dion Edwards. Serra’s 4×200 team of Grigg-Andrews, Edwards, Thomas and Jordin Stephens were also third in 1:30.89.
For the girls, Raelyn Pleasant, cousin of former Serra High football and track and field standout Roderick Pleasant who is at the University of Oregon, won the 100-meter dash clocking 12.6 and the 200 in 25.12. Pleasant was also the leading runner in the Cavaliers’ winning 800 relay squad at 1:45.66. Other runners included Avanti Davy, Savannah Coline and Mecca Muhammad.
In the long jump, Taylor Dawson topped the field with a leap of 16 feet. Her teammate, Anoie James, tied for third place with Los Alamitos’ Stawroui Laurakos at 14-8.
Shot putter Lo’ani Atofau finished second in the shot put with a toss of 31-9.
“This was our first meet,” Serra second-year head coach Princeton Williams said. “The kids did very good; both on JV (junior varsity) and varsity. We were just having fun in this meet and getting ready for the big meets.”
According to Williams, the Cavaliers’ first major meet will be at the Redondo High Nike Invitational on March 14 and 15.
Serra’s next meet will be on Saturday at Eleanor Roosevelt High in Eastvale.
