Harvard-Westlake girls basketball sprints to the finish line, beats Colfax for state title: 5 takeaways

SACRAMENTO - Through three quarters, Harvard-Westlake and Colfax were locked in a neck-and-neck battle for a CIF Division II State title.

But Harvard-Westlake saved its best for last, dominating the fourth quarter to win comfortably and close out with its largest lead of the game.

Angelina Habis and Deana Thompson led the way with 19 points and 18 points, respectively, and Valentina Guerrero posted a double-double from the bench as Harvard-Westlake won 60-45.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Colfax owns second quarter, hangs around

Harvard-Westlake won the first quarter 16-9 and took an 18-10 lead early in the second, but the momentum was still up for grabs. Colfax then rooted itself into the contest with a 14-2 run to take 24-22 lead with 3:15 remaining in the half, and finished it leading 28-24.

2. Falcons go cold, Diederichs suffers injury at bad time

There's never a good time to suffer an injury, especially in a state title game. But Kaia Diederichs tweaked her ankle at a particularly rough time. Immediately after she hit back-to-back jumpers, with 3:59 left in the third quarter and the game hanging in the balance at 36-34, she went down and limped to the locker room. 

Diederichs returned at start of fourth down, when it was still a two-point game at 42-40. But Colfax's offense had ground to a halt, and Harvard-Westlake was about to find another gear on both ends. Colfax didn't score again until well past the halfway point of the fourth quarter, in which it scored only five points total.

3. Harvard-Westlake hits its stride late, finishes on big run

As Colfax cooled down, Harvard-Westlake heated up. After freshman Angelina Habis anchored the Wolverines' scoring through the first three quarters, Deanna Thompson and Harvard-Westlake took over down the stretch as Harvard-Westlake scored 18 points in the fourth quarter – to Colfax's five. There was no drama down the stretch as Harvard-Westlake pulled away.

"The arena was a big venue for us... we were are all nervous, but we settled down in the second half," Harvard-Westlake head coach Melissa Hearlihy said. "And we talked about defense, defense, defense, and you saw us, second half, play defense, defense, defense."

"I thought [Colfax's transition game] was a little shocking to me," Hearlihy continued. "I thought we'd be faster than them, but they did a good job getting out, and that was one of the reasons they were ahead at the half."

4. Another amazing Colfax season ends in heartbreak

For the second season in a row, Colfax had an incredibly successful season that happened to end with tears in the state finals at Golden 1 Center.

This one culminated in a 34-3 record, CIF-SJS Division 4 title, and Northern Region Division III championship – and tears in downtown Sacramento nonetheless.

"They're a bunch of fighters, and I know the girls really wanted it. Sometimes you fall short," Colfax head coach Roxanne Simpton said. 

"We battled the first half. The second half, we got a little cold, missed some easy ones, and they hit shots. I think that was the difference."

"But I'm super proud of them," Simpton continued.

"I don't even know if we thought we'd be here. We set goals early on the season, and accomplished all of them. Our last goal that we set was to make a run at [regionals], and here we are playing for our second state championship in two years, and that's not an easy task. So I have to remind myself and remind them that of how proud I am and all that we've overcome this year."

Returning all but one player, Colfax is in place to take yet another leap heading into 2024-25. But it'll miss senior and starting guard Jade Biittner, who had a game-high seven assists.

"Moving forward, we have some key pieces back," Simpton said. 

"And the last two years, those key pieces have been part of two NorCal championships. And now, two state runners-up. I think they're going to have that taste of defeat in the back of their mind. I think that's going to help us."

Juliette James led Colfax with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 6-11 shooting. Diederichs totaled 13 points and three steals, and Laurlyn Massick totaled seven points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

5. Harvard-Westlake arrives ahead of schedule despite adversity

It's been an injury-riddled season for an underclassmen-heavy Wolverines team playing one of tougher schedules in the nation.

Winning a Division II state title wasn't exactly a predictable outcome for Harvard-Westlake, which was an underdog to make the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals and qualify for a state birth in the first place. The team started 5-13, and only got above .500 with Saturday's win that gave them a 19-18 record.

READ MORE: HARVARD-WESTLAKE WINS STATE CROWN DESPITE INJURY-LADEN SEASON

"I was interviewed the other day and one point they made was that we'd tied the record for the most losses to make it to the state championship," said Hearlihy, who added a second state title to one of the winningest coaching resumes in state history. 

"Not a record that I want on my resume. But what I can tell you is that these kids are resilient.

"We got here in Division II, but we had to beat Division 1 teams [in Southern Section playoffs] that were ranked above us," Hearlihy said. 

"Beating Windward, and then upsetting Redondo when we were down 14 in that game – I think those were really pivotal points for us. The kids realized that if we started playing defense, we could beat some really good teams. I knew that, but I think it was a matter of them starting to believe that."

Angelina Habis led all scorers with 19 points, and had seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Deann Thompson totaled 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Valentina Guerrero packed a punch off the bench with 14 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks on 7-11 shooting. And Jamie Yue closed her high school career with nine points, five assists, and two steals on 3-4 shooting, while recording a game-high plus-20 in the plus-minus department. 

PHOTOS BY DENNIS LEE