RANCHO CUCAMONGA — The numbers were hard to ignore, but that’s exactly what Etiwanda girls basketball coach Stan Delus asked his players to do.
Sierra Canyon outrebounded the Eagles 42-21 through the first three quarters of Tuesday night’s CIF State Open Division regional championship game.
And yet, Etiwanda held a two-point lead going into the final period of play. Delus had a simple message for his players before heading back onto the court.
“I told them those first three quarters don’t matter anymore,” Delus said. “Just go out there and win these final eight minutes and bring this victory home.”
The Eagles won the rebounding battle during the final period by the slimmest of margins (10-9), and Grace Knox and Kennedy Smith scored seven points apiece in the quarter as Etiwanda escaped with a 54-51 victory and earned an opportunity to defend its Open Division state championship in Sacramento.
Etiwanda (31-3) will square off against San Jose Archbishop Mitty (30-0) for that CIF Open Division championship Saturday at 6 p.m. at Golden 1 Center. It will be a rematch of last season’s Open Division state championship game, which Etiwanda won 69-67 on a put-back by Jada Sanders at the buzzer.
“We knew what needed to be done that final quarter,” said Smith, who was held scoreless through three periods. “We had to get ourselves locked in.”
Knox led the way for Etiwanda with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Aliyahna “Puff” Morris and Arynn Finley scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Sierra Canyon (31-3) was led by Jerzy Robinson, who recorded a game-high 25 points and 15 rebounds. Emilia Krstevski finished with 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Mackenly Randolph had 10 points added eight rebounds. The Trailblazers won several categories on the final stat sheet.
“I’m really proud of the effort. We outrebounded them (the Eagles) in both games, and we felt that would be a key against them,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia…
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