Redlands Adventist Academy Girls Basketball Falls One Game Short

Hoping to put its first CIF-Southern Section basketball banner on the walls of Redlands Adventist Academy, the Bulldogs ran into a buzzsaw known as Rolling Hills Prep in Wednesday's Division 6A championship game at Anaheim Arena.

Led by the two-headed monster of freshman guard Peyton Langston and sophomore center Mar-jana Phillips, the top-seeded Huskies simply overpowered the Bulldogs in a 65-26 victory.

It was a rough ending for the second-seeded Bulldogs, who were hoping to make school history before the boys' team, which competes for the 6A title Friday. However, the setback didn't take away from the joy of a road well traveled.

"Our goal all along was to make it make it here to the championship game regardless of the outcome," RAA head coach Jeremy Hoch said. "It's a big deal for us to be here. It's been a very long and exciting journey."

Added sophomore guard Brianna Felipe: "It was surreal. I was used to playing in our little gym with the walls five feet from the basket. Over here the walls were like 50 feet from the basket."

Up against a team whose averaging winning margin was 44 points in their first three playoff games, the Bulldogs (19-6) were struck by early nerves and a swarming Coyote defense that never allowed RAA room to breathe.

"They say offense wins games," said Rolling Hills Prep coach Joe Jackson, who won his second CIF title with the Huskies with a team that has no seniors. "But it's defense that wins championships.  That's what we've said all along. These young ladies took it to heart."

Defensively, the Coyotes (19-3) forced 24 turnovers and had 13 steals to the Bulldogs' two. They forced the Bulldogs into a 10-of-56 shooting day from the field (17.9 percent), including 1-of-15 in the first quarter.

Despite that rough first quarter, the Bulldogs only trailed 12-2. The Huskies' lead grew to 23-4 after Beverly Ntagu's basket with 3:01 left in the second quarter.

Felipe provided a glimmer of hope, hitting consecutive 3-pointers to draw the Bulldogs to within 23-10 and get the Bulldog contingent on its feet.

"I thought we had a chance," said Felipe, who scored a team-high 14 points with four 3-pointers. "Things were beginning to become more natural. We just didn't play hard enough."

The Bulldogs would never get any closer than 13 points the rest of the way as Langston and Phillips took their turns imposing their wills in the contest. Langston scored 14 of her team-high 28 points in the opening half. The 5-foot-11 guard posed problems all game with her long arms and slashing moves to the basket. She also added seven rebounds and four steals.

Hoch acknowledged that one of the Bulldogs' goals was to limit the 5-foot-11 Phillips - a job that was accomplished in the first half as she scored only five points. Unfortunately that changed in the second half, as Phillips scored 20 of her 25 points to go with a game-high 14 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.

"I thought we did relatively well on defense," said Hoch, who utilized several defensive strategies in trying to control the Coyotes' twin towers. "Our problem was that we didn't box out. It's tough when you play good defense for 20 seconds and they get the ball right back for an easier shot."

Senior forward Jill Webster added seven points with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Bulldogs, who could earn a berth into the CIF State Tournament when brackets are announced this weekend.

BOX SCORE
ROLLING HILLS PREP (65)
Peyton Langston 28, Mar-jana Phillips 25, Beverly Ntagu 6, Cat Traylor 4, Jessica Taylor 2.
REDLANDS ADVENTIST ACADEMY (26)
Brianna Felipe 14, Jill Webster 7, Nina Tragansri 3, Ariana Casiano 2.
Halftime: RHP 25-12. 3-pointers: RHP 0-5 (Langston 0-5); RAA 5-24 (Felipe 4-11, Tragansri 1-4, Webster 0-6, Laura Murao 0-2, Shanelle Lasta 0-1). Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.