Sage Hill girls' basketball making most of second chance in state playoffs

Los Angeles Times

08-03-2025

Sage Hill girls' basketball has a new crop of contributors that have kept it near the top of the sport, but it was a third-year starter that helped set the tone on Thursday night.
Junior guard Amalia Holguin scored the first eight points of the contest, as Sage Hill extended its season with a 58-34 win over Moreno Valley in a CIF State Southern California Regional Division I playoff game at home.
'I'm just here to do whatever my team needs,' Holguin said. 'This game, it was start the game off hot and start banging, put it in the basket. If I'm here to score, I'm here to score — [if it's] to pass, to pass. I'm just here to be a leader and make my team win.'
Second-seeded Sage Hill (21-11) will host Los Angeles Brentwood (27-8) in a regional semifinal game on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Lightning will be attempting to get to a second regional final in four seasons. Sage Hill went on to win the Division II state title in 2022.
Top-seeded Fairmont Prep (23-10) plays host to fourth-seeded Los Angeles Windward (20-10) in the other semifinal.
Sixth-seeded Brentwood beat visiting San Diego Westview 68-34 on Thursday, leaving four Southern Section teams in the regional semifinals. Brentwood lost to Temecula Rancho Christian 58-48 in the Division 1 final.
Sage Hill was swept in pool play in the Open Division, albeit without multiple key pieces in the lineup. Freshman wing Addison Uphoff returned in the state playoff opener after missing six games with a foot fracture, Lightning coach Kerwin Walters said. Freshman center Eve Fowler missed two games with an ankle injury.
'I think we are getting healthy, which is the biggest thing that was happening to us,' Walters said. 'We had several girls out with multiple injuries and the flu, and it was just difficult.'
Fowler brought a physicality to the floor, providing 10 points, nine rebounds, two blocked shots and two assists. Uphoff made a pair of three-pointers, one that stretched the Lightning lead to double digits at the end of the first quarter.
'Eve has really improved as a player,' said sophomore guard Kamdyn Klamberg, who had 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half. 'She's grown so much in practice and in the games. She did a great job bodying, staying up. We have great help-side [defense], too, so our team's got her back while she's battling out there.'
While Holguin started hot from beyond the arc, she did not settle for long-distance shots. She dribbled into the paint and did not shy away from contact, drawing two shooting fouls. Holguin finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.
'Amalia is one of the most underrated point guards in the state, and probably in the country,' Walters said. 'I think people know her, but they don't know the true Amalia. When she starts to distribute like she's doing, she's a really difficult cover. With the talent that we have around her, she knows that she is eventually going to get the ball back, and she's going to be able to do the things that she is naturally gifted to do, which is score.'
The Lightning managed 16 assists on 23 field goals. Freshman guard Leah O'Toner dished out four assists.
'She's done a great job,' Walters said of O'Toner, who has drawn into the rotation even with the experienced backcourt duo of Holguin and Klamberg. 'She's learning every single day. She's a player that just absorbs information, and she just wants more, and more, and more.'
Junior forward Alyssa Cuff and Klamberg each had two steals for the Lightning, who clamped down defensively. Senior forward Isabella Rose also had five rebounds and a steal off the bench. Sage Hill outlasted Moreno Valley for a 73-64 victory in the Battle of the Beach at Redondo Union on Nov. 29.
Sophomore forward Alaysha Mills was a force around the rim for Moreno Valley (26-8) on Thursday, leading her team with 13 points, 13 rebounds and four steals.
The Vikings, however, were limited to just 13 points in the first half. Senior guard Leiayjah Mills scored eight points, junior guard Bella Medina added seven points and senior center Tamia Hardwick pulled down eight rebounds.
CIF State Southern California Regional Division I playoffs
Sage Hill 58, Moreno Valley 34
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Moreno Valley 7 - 6 - 11 - 10 — 34
Sage Hill 18 - 12 - 12 - 16 — 58
MV — A. Mills 13, L. Mills 8, Medina 7, Hardwick 4, Williams 2.
3-pt. goals — None.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — Team (jersey violation).
SH — Klamberg 17, Holguin 16, Fowler 10, Uphoff 6, Cuff 4, Reynolds 2, Rose 2, O'Toner 1.
3-pt. goals — Klamberg 3, Holguin 2, Uphoff 2.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.