ONTARIO — The Rosary girls basketball went almost the entire 32 minutes of the CIF-SS Division 2A championship game without trailing Friday at Toyota Arena.
But that changed in the final second.
Rolling Hills Preps’ Regan Enright hit a pair of free throws with one second on the clock to give the Huskies their first lead and a 51-49 victory over the Royals.
The Royals, who led 17-0 after the first quarter, managed to get off a half-court shot in that final second but the ball landed well short of the basket.
“We battled,” Rosary coach Richard Yoon said. “It just didn’t turn out our way. I thought that we definitely got hacked (on the final shot), but you know, that’s just the way things go sometimes.”
Enright hit a 3-pointer to make the score 49-49 with less than 30 seconds left.
Prior to Enright’s basket, Rosary (20-9) missed a pair of free throws that would have made it difficult for the Huskies to come back in the few seconds that were remaining.
After the 3-pointer, the Royals ran down the clock, hoping to take the final shot, but turned the ball over with five seconds left.
Enright was then fouled just before the final second ticked off the clock.
Rosary led 22-0 before Enright scored the Huskies’ first points three minutes into the second quarter.
Rolling Hills Prep chipped away and cut the Royals’ lead to 10 points at the half.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the Huskies were within four.
Rosary seemed to regain control. A basket by Kylie Yoon put the Royals up by seven points with three minutes left.
Noelani Pablo scored for the Huskies to cut Rosary’s lead to five but Yoon scored again to get the lead back up to seven with just over a minute remaining.
The Royals never scored again.
“We didn’t take care of the ball,” Richard Yoon said. “I always say, in close games, you’ve got to take care of the ball. You can’t turn it over. You’ve got to make a free throw and you’ve got to rebound.”
The Royals, who started four sophomores and a junior, will continue their season in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that begin Tuesday, March 4.
“They’re young, and they’re learning,” Richard Yoon said. “They worked really hard to get here, and we could’ve lost any one of those games before. So I’m really proud of them for getting here.”
“Sometimes it’s a rollercoaster,” he added. “You’ve got to get back right into it. If you lose, you know, you’ve got to get over it quickly.”
Yoon said his team could have made smarter decisions during the game.
“Taking our time on offense to get a better shot,” he said. “Little things, but you’ve got to learn from it. They’re young, and they’re learning.”
Isabella Holmes and Kate Duarte each scored eight to lead the Royals.
Enright led all players with 17.
“That was good basketball,” said Huskies coach Moniquee Alexander, a former center at UCLA. “There’s multiple girls on both teams that could play Division I. So, I’m proud of both teams as a woman, as a female that’s done it.”
