Skip to main content
Sports

See the buzzer beater that won California’s top girls basketball championship

Etiwanda and Mitty faced off at Golden 1 Center on Saturday night.

A group of female basketball players in black uniforms celebrates on the court, with one player kneeling and smiling as teammates surround her.
The Etiwanda Eagles surround Jada Sanders, smiling, after her game-winning putback in the CIF Open Division Girls Basketball State Championship Game. | Ethan Kassel/The Standard

California’s top high school girls basketball championship couldn’t have been any closer.

Etiwanda star Kennedy Smith had 30 points and 13 rebounds, but it was backup guard Jada Sanders who rebounded Smith’s miss and scored just before time expired to give the Rancho Cucamonga school a 69-67 victory over the Mitty Monarchs in the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division Championship Game.

Sanders, who was only in the game because teammates Sa’lah Hemingway and Mykel Richards had fouled out, became the hero after Smith’s jumper swirled around the rim twice and fell out.

Mitty (28-3) never had possession after Morgan Cheli’s pair of free throws with 58.5 seconds left. Eagles point guard Aliyahna Morris drew Maya Hernandez’s fifth foul with 41.8 left and made both free throws to tie the game at 67, and the Monarchs threw away the subsequent inbound pass. Etiwanda (32-3) forced a jump ball with 19.1 to go, called timeout and set up the shot that head coach Stan Delus wanted Smith to take. She missed, but Sanders was in position to be the hero.

Cheli led the Monarchs with 24 points, while freshman McKenna Woliczko, a San Bruno native, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Morris scored 14 for the Eagles, while Arynn Finley added eight off the bench.

Listen toSection 415
1 day ago

Section 415: Min Woo Lee, Steph Curry, and the story of The Bay Golf Club

A golfer wearing a white Callaway cap and black vest swings a golf club, with a blurred green background and red-bordered panels showing baseball gloves and bats.
5 days ago

Section 415: The Giants’ hire of Tony Vitello marks the start of a bold new era

A baseball player in a white jersey and orange cap smiles widely, with images of gloves and hands gripping bats in red and black along the left side.
Tuesday, Oct. 21

Section 415: Ballers manager Aaron Miles on bringing a title back to Oakland

A joyful baseball player in a helmet and uniform sits in a laundry cart while teammates push and cheer around him in a dugout walkway.