REDONDO BEACH – A nightmare start to Senior Night wasn’t enough to prevent the Redondo Union High girls basketball team from celebrating a dream conclusion Tuesday against rival Mira Costa.
The host Sea Hawks surrendered the first 11 points of the game and didn’t score in the opening quarter, but they responded by closing the second and third quarters with timely runs and added another significant surge midway through the fourth to complete one of the most impressive comebacks in program history.
Redondo Union also limited Mira Costa sophomore standout Kylee Yeh, who had a game-high 20 points, to just one field goal after halftime, resulting in a 45-34 victory that forced Mira Costa to share the Bay League title with North Torrance (17-8, 6-2).
Redondo Union girls basketball | Photo courtesy of Redondo Union
The Mustangs (18-10, 6-2) snapped a 14-game losing streak against Redondo Union (16-12, 5-3) with a 46-33 win Jan. 17 at Mira Costa, and entered Tuesday’s showdown with an opportunity to capture the program’s first outright league crown since 2010.
Yeh scored 16 points in the first meeting and Kristyn Kim had 17 points for the Mustangs.
Yeh, who produced a career-high 35 points Saturday at the Redondo Union gymnasium in a 63-49 victory against El Segundo at the Palisades Riptide Showcase, appeared to be headed toward another exceptional effort after accounting for all 11 first-quarter points by Mira Costa and 16 of the team’s 21 in the opening half.
But Yeh missed her first nine shot attempts in the second half and only managed a free throw late in the third quarter and a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining in the contest.
Kim also struggled after halftime for the Mustangs, with her lone field goal a 3-pointer with five minutes left to cut the deficit to 30-27.
Despite the disappointing first quarter and still facing an 11-point deficit with 1:25 remaining in the second, Redondo Union scored the final five points of the half and trailed by a 21-15 margin at the break.
The Sea Hawks, who received 12 points and four steals from senior Siena Blaustein, scored 10 of the final 11 points in the last 2:45 of the third quarter to grab a 30-24 advantage entering the fourth.
Abby Zimmerman, a junior guard, contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds for Redondo Union, which responded with six unanswered points following Kim’s 3-pointer early in the fourth. The Mustangs never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Chloe Choy, a junior guard who provided the heroics by scoring the final seven points in the last 41 seconds Saturday for the Sea Hawks in a 39-38 victory against Shadow Hills at the Palisades Riptide Showcase, had nine of her 11 points in the second half Tuesday against Mira Costa.
Ava Gomez, a junior guard, added seven points and six rebounds for Redondo Union, with junior forward Jada Martin producing nine points and seven rebounds for Mira Costa, which shared the league championship for the first time since 2017.