Westview girls basketball team rallies for win against Grossmont to celebrate 100th career victory for coach Melissa Peng; La Jolla Country Day and Mission Hills also advance in CIF-San Diego Section Open Division playoffs

SAN DIEGO – Before the members of the Westview High girls basketball team could spray coach Melissa Peng with several cans of Silly String to celebrate her 100th career coaching victory Friday night, the No. 4 Wolverines had to avoid having cold water poured on their postseason aspirations by fifth-seeded Grossmont in the opening round of the CIF-San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.

Westview faced a nine-point deficit in the second quarter, before rallying to score the final 15 points of the opening half, then relied on a run of 13 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters to finally pull away from the visiting Foothillers in a 53-40 victory.

Post-game interviews

Mia Jacobson, a junior guard, scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the second half – including eight in the fourth quarter – to help the Wolverines (20-8) advance to Tuesday’s semifinals at top-seeded Francis Parker (19-8), a 38-24 winner Friday against No. 8 Rancho Bernardo (22-7).

Sarah Heyn contributed eight of her 10 points after halftime for Westview, with the junior point guard closing the third quarter by making an acrobatic layup as time expired, before knocking down a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth.

Heyn and Jacobson combined for 11 of the Wolverines’ 13 points during the second-half run, extending Westview’s advantage to 49-30 with 4:25 remaining.

Aakash Price led Grossmont (22-4) with 16 points and fellow sophomore Arionna Simpson added 12 points for the Foothillers, who built a 19-10 lead midway through the second quarter.

Jiyah Baylon, a freshman, connected on two 3-pointers, with junior Makena McLaughlin also adding a 3-point field goal for the Wolverines during the impressive surge to close the first half, resulting in a 25-19 advantage at the break for Westview.

Jaliyah Fleming, another sophomore for Grossmont, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third to keep the Foothillers within striking distance at 36-30, with less than a minute left in the quarter.

But Jacobson and Heyn both made layups in the final 25 seconds of the third and the Wolverines opened the final quarter with nine consecutive points in less than four minutes to finally establish some breathing room after a few anxious moments to begin their postseason run.

Peng, a member of the 2011 Division 2 championship team at Westview as well as the head coach for the 2022 Division 1 title-winning program at Del Norte, led the Wolverines to a share of the North-County Palomar championship with third-seeded Mission Hills (21-8).

It marked the first league crown for Westview since 2020.

The Wolverines were able to host Friday’s playoff opener, allowing the players to highlight Peng’s achievement by covering her head and upper body with Silly String following the contest outside the locker room, but Westview won’t have another opportunity to potentially compete in a home game until the state playoffs.

Westview, which received six points apiece from Katie Graves and Baylon, has not played against Francis Parker since 2008.

La Jolla Country Day 76, El Capitan 29: For the second time this season, the second-seeded Torreys (17-10) prevailed by more than 40 points against No. 7 El Capitan (23-6), this time in the opening round of the Open Division playoffs.

La Jolla Country Day girls basketball team | Photo courtesy of La Jolla Country Day

Mei-Ling Perry, a Princeton-bound junior, had a game-high 18 points along with 10 points and four steals, with Mahlia Washington adding 14 points, seven steals and four assists, and Erin Sicari scoring 12 points to help La Jolla Country Day advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against No. 3 Mission Hills (21-8) in a rematch of last year’s Open Division championship game.

Safiyah Sugapong contributed eight points, including a pair of 3-point field goals for the Torreys, who received four 3-pointers apiece from Sicari and Washington.

Kennedy Walton had seven points for La Jolla Country Day, which built a 41-16 advantage at halftime.

El Capitan, which also suffered a 64-20 setback Dec. 10 against the Torreys, didn’t lose another game this season by more than 20 points.

Mission Hills 73, Cathedral Catholic 34: The third-seeded Grizzlies (21-8) built on a 40-24 lead in the third by scoring the final 17 points of the quarter to cruise to the opening-round victory against No. 6 Cathedral Catholic (19-9) in the Open Division playoffs.

Mission Hills girls basketball team | Photo courtesy of Mission Hills

Mission Hills plays Tuesday in the semifinals at No. 2 La Jolla Country Day (17-10), seeking a third consecutive victory against the Torreys, including a 63-56 triumph in last year’s Open Division final.

Bay Cordova, a sophomore, had a game-high 19 points for the Grizzlies, with Izzy Medina adding 12 points and HC Harding contributing 10 points for Mission Hills, which increased its state-leading total to 387 3-point field goals after making 11 shots from behind the arc against Cathedral Catholic.

McKinnley Hanlon scored 10 points and Sinalei Talataina had eight points for the Dons, who suffered their fourth consecutive loss against Mission Hills.