The Yucca Valley High School Lady Trojan basketball team survived a mistake-filled first half to come back and earn an exciting 52-46 overtime win over King/Drew High School in a CIF State Division 4 semifinal game Saturday (March 5) night in Trojan Gym.
Trailing 18-13 at halftime the Yucca girls outscored the Golden Eagles 13-9 in the third quarter but fell behind 35-29 with 5:25 left in the fourth quarter before they were able to take the lead 36-35 on junior Malia Ulery’s two free throws with 4:17 remaining in regulation. The game see-sawed the rest of the final quarter with 5 lead changes. King/Drew had a chance to win the game in regulation with the score knotted 43-43 but missed 2 free throws with 2 seconds remaining.
In overtime, sophomore Cadence Tarrant hit two free throws and a basket, Ulery had a steal and a fast-break layup, and freshman Tayla Monroy hit a clutch 3 point basket with 1:13 left to seal the victory.
Ulery scored a game-high 17 points despite being double-teamed the entire game. Tarrant scored 14 points, all in the second half, and pulled down 18 rebounds. Senior Maliah Rodriguez knocked down 3 three-point baskets for her 9 points and Heather Hiday posted 8 points and 6 rebounds. Monroy finished with 3 points and junior Ashley Lowe added 1 point.
With the win, the team advances to the CIF State Division 4 Southern California Regional Final where they will face Imperial High School Tuesday (March 8) night in Trojan Gym. The winner advances to the Division 4 State Final next Saturday (March 12) in Sacramento.
