#24 seed LA Valley among slew of Women's Basketball Round 1 Playoff winners

3C2A Women's Basketball Regional Brackets: NorCal l SoCal

While seedings are what create the brackets, the number of the seed isn't as important for the lower seeds as it's all about just making it into the postseason.

Los Angeles Valley College, a team that garnered the final #24 seed, shocked #9 Santa Ana, 46-42, as one of 16 winners in Round 1 of the 3C2A Women's Basketball Regional Playoffs on Wednesday night.

The Monarchs (15-14 record) tripped up the state #21-ranked Dons, who only a week ago had upset SoCal #1 seed and state #3-ranked Orange Coast, in a defensive battle. LAVC trailed 16-6 after one quarter, but limited Santa Ana to just 12 points combined in the middle quarters to take a 31-28 lead going into the fourth period.

In the final 10 minutes, a Laila Salazar jumper upped LAVC's lead to 42-34 before SAC made one last run, cutting it to two on an Anaya Beard layup with 16 seconds remaining. But LA Valley hung on as Samantha Maldonado scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Larissa Robles scored 16 for Santa Ana.

LA Valley is directed by head coach Monica Hang, who reached the 300-win milestone last season.

Other Round 1 results, Wednesday, Feb. 26:

SOUTH
#10 Grossmont 71, #23 LA Trade-Tech 60: Anayla Anderson scored 24 points and dished out 10 assists for the Griffins. For LATT, Ariana Harper scored 23 points with 16 rebounds.
#11 Santa Barbara CC 57, #22 Imperial Valley 52: Kaylee Bosetti scored 16 and added 14 rebounds to lead the Vaqueros. IVC was paced by Carolina Saucedo with 11 points and nine steals.
#21 East Los Angeles 61, #12 Victor Valley 59: Asiah Harris drove the lane to score the winning basket with 10 seconds to help the Huskies upset over the Rams, the state's #16-ranked team. Atalia Thomas was VVC's top scorer this season at 12.5 points per game. 
#13 San Diego Mesa 63, #20 Cuesta 45: The Olympians were paced by Christina Bowen's 15 points to advance. The Cougars were led by Reese Pasternik on 14 points. 
#14 Fullerton 80, #19 Citrus 47: The Hornets first trip to the postseason in a decade starts out with a big win over the Owls. Citrus led early 13-6, but Fullerton rode the hot shooting of Kaylee Shimoda, who hit six 3-pointers as part of her 24 points. Citrus was paced by Leilana Argueta with 12 points. 
#15 West Los Angeles 65, #18 Long Beach CC 58-Overtime: This was not an upset according to the seedings, but it was an important win for the Wildcats, who eliminated a Vikings team that was ranked #20 in the state and played in last year's 3C2A state quarterfinals. LBCC sent the game to OT at 52-52 on a jumper by Brillana Boyd with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Aliyah Young was the hero in the extra period, scoring nine of WLAC's 13 points. She finished with 12 while Kennedee Rankin was strong on 22 points and 18 rebounds. Boyd finished as a 2-time, All-State selection as she scored 19 points and pulled down 12 boards. 
#17 Irvine Valley 59, #16 Antelope Valley 57: Kivonni Williams hit a jumper at the buzzer to lift the Lasers past the Marauders. Irvine became SoCal's third lower seed to advance. Alexis Prince scored 14 for the Lasers while a great effort by AVC's Athieng Bol, who scored a game-high 28 points. 

NORTH
#9 Butte 78, #24 Mission 58: The Roadrunners are led by Golden Valley Conference MVP Shade Satica and advance with the 20-point victory. Mission was paced this year by Loli Montesino, averaging 18 points. 
#10 Shasta 70, #23 Taft 57: Graceyn Harlan scored 19 points as she helped the Knights reach Round 2 with the victory over the Cougars. Madyn Kassatly averages 17.1 points for Taft.
#22 Skyline 55, #11 Hartnell 54: The Trojans (11-18) were 7-18 going into the final 2 weeks of the season, but like what we mentioned in the opening lead of the release, it's all about what have done lately and they relished the opportunity to reach the postseason by upsetting the Panthers. Skyline has been paced by All-Coast North First Team selection Jazmynn Sciancalepore-Garcia at 13.5 points per game, but Serena Mazzetta came up big in this win with 12 points and seven rebounds. Back on Jan. 3, Hartnell beat Skyline by 31 points. Hartnell has an All-Coast South First Teamer in Bailey Cotter. 
#12 Chabot 76, #21 Napa Valley 66: The Gladiators relied on the long-range shooting of All-State guard Lex Pletschette, who scored 31 points, burying seven 3-pointers for the win. The Storm led 41-39 by halftime and were paced by its All-State high scorer Rose Jamison, averaged 22 points this season.
#13 Santa Rosa JC 54, #20 Redwoods 46: Ivy Gonzalez scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the Bear Cubs advance. Redwoods was led by Kyle Alba this season, averaging 11.8 points.
#19 Cosumnes River 78, #14 Siskiyous 59: The Hawks were battle-tested in the Big 8 and used that edge in the mild upset over the Eagles. CRC is led this season by Saray White, averaging 20.8 points. Siskiyous was paced by Alexes Collier, who had an 18.3 points average. 
#18 San Mateo 56, #15 Reedley 37: The Bulldogs became the third NorCal lower seed to advance. All-Coast North First Team selection Simone Murray leads CSM at 14.5 points average. One of Reedley's top players is Taylor Sutherland, averaging 13.7 points.
#16 Cabrillo 62, #17 Modesto 60: The Seahawks played with just six players, but Gabby Brooks netted 27 points to lift them to their first playoff win since 2019. The Pirates rallied late behind 25 points (four treys) by Emma Gilmore.

ROUND 2 REGIONALS
Saturday, March 1

SOUTH 
#1 Orange Coast (23-5) v. #17 Irvine Valley (16-13)
#2 Mt. San Antonio (24-4) v. #15 West LA (19-10)
#3 Moorpark (24-4) v. #14 Fullerton (19-10)
#4 Glendale (23-4) v. #13 San Diego Mesa (20-9)
#5 Cypress (20-8) v. #21 East LA (16-12)
#6 Palomar (22-6) v. #11 Santa Barbara (22-6)
#7 Mt. San Jacinto (24-4) v. #10 Grossmont (23-5)
#8 Cerro Coso (23-5) v. #24 LA Valley (15-14)

NORTH
#1 Sequoias (28-0) v. #16 Cabrillo (19-10)
#2 San Joaquin Delta (20-8) v. San Mateo (17-11)
#3 Sierra (23-4) v. #19 Cosumnes River (16-13)
#4 San Jose CC (26-2) v. #13 Santa Rosa (17-12)
#5 Folsom Lake (23-5) v. #12 Chabot (18-11)
#6 Laney (25-3) v. #22 Skyline (11-18)
#7 CC San Francisco (18-8) v. #10 Shasta (18-11)
#8 Fresno City (19-9) v. #9 Butte (19-9)

Release by Robert Lewis, CCCWBCA Publicist