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CHATSWORTH — It had been 374 days since Etiwanda girls basketball last beat Sierra Canyon, which was also the last time the Trailblazers lost a game, period.
On Tuesday night, the Eagles did it again.
Etiwanda beat Sierra Canyon, 55-54, for the CIF State SoCal Regional Open Division championship and a spot in the state championship game, which is slated for Saturday in Sacramento.
“I’m exhausted,” Eagles coach Stan Delus said. “This rivalry didn’t start last year. It started in 2018 and me and (Alicia) Komacki have been battling ever since.”
The Eagles’ Kennedy Smith led all players with 21 points and Aliyahna Morris added 17 points. Izela Arenas put up 17 points for Sierra Canyon and Juju Watkins had 16.
Watkins tied the score at 54-54 on a layup with 10 seconds left in the game. Morris made a free throw with 2.4 seconds remaining for the win.
“I don’t know why we played the worst game of our lives on the biggest stage of our lives,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komacki said. “I am proud that we fought through it. We knew we weren’t playing well and we didn’t give up and we didn’t point fingers.”
It’s the fourth time the two schools have met in the last two postseasons combined. Last season, the Trailblazers (31-1) lost to the Eagles (31-3) in the CIF Southern Section Open Division final, a game in which the USC-bound Watkins fouled out in the fourth quarter.
That was the last time that Sierra Canyon had lost. Since that game 374 days ago, the Trailblazers had become the No. 1-ranked team in the country and were en route to a perfect season.
Sierra Canyon avenged the loss last season by winning the CIF State Regional final by nine points over Etiwanda and went on to win the CIF State title.
The Trailblazers also beat Etiwanda 70-57 in this season’s CIF-SS Open Division final.
“We had a job,” Smith said. “We lost to them earlier…
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