Julia Wilson leads Rancho Christian to second CIF-Southern Section girls basketball title in three years, denying Brentwood potential three-peat in Division 1 final

ONTARIO – Brentwood School had a championship pedigree. But as it turned out, so did Rancho Christian.

Rancho Christian denied Brentwood its third straight CIF-Southern Section girls basketball championship with a 58-48 victory Friday night in the Division 1 final at Toyota Arena. Both teams will continue to compete when the state playoffs begin Tuesday.

“We worked hard all year, from practicing outside on the blacktop to today winning the championship, these girls definitely earned it and deserved it,” Rancho Christian coach Marlon Wells said.

It was the second title in the past three years for Rancho Christian (25-8), which claimed the Division 3-A crown two years ago. 

The only returnee from that team was Gonzaga-bound senior Julia Wilson and fittingly, she had 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Rancho Christian.

“I have amazing teammates,” Wilson said. “I was by myself (beginning of 2023-24 season). I was the only person returning. I feel like we’ve grown so much in my junior and senior year.”

Rancho Christian never trailed Friday, scoring the game’s first seven points and going on a 10-3 run to end the second quarter to take a 35-21 halftime lead.

Rancho Christian girls basketball team | Photo courtesy of Rancho Christian

Brentwood (25-8), which won the Division 1 title last year and the Division 2-A crown two years ago, opened the second half on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to two points.

But Brentwood could get no closer.

It was still only a 52-48 deficit after a basket by Lev Feiman (22 points, six rebounds) with 2:59 to play, but Brentwood didn’t score again.

“The reason why I’m not super upset right now is because we did come back like we always do,” said the UC San Diego-bound Feiman, the program’s all-time career scoring leader with 1,796 points.

“I really thought we would come back and we did. We just didn’t finish.”

Brentwood set a Southern Section record for 3-pointers in a season with 381 entering Friday (11.9 per game).

But Brentwood made less than half of that average, going just 5 for 33 from 3-point range. 

“Usually we’re about 38 percent (3-pointers). We got a ton of open looks, and tonight it just didn’t fall,” Brentwood coach Charles Solomon said. “These girls have ice water in their veins. Under no circumstance were they bothered that it wasn’t going in. They thought the next one was going in, just like I did.”

The five 3-pointers were a season-low for Brentwood.

Payton Sugar, Brentwood’s single-season and career 3-point leader, made just 2 of 13 attempts Friday from behind the arc. Sugar increased her totals to 128 3-point field goals this season and 348 for her career entering the state playoffs.

To demonstrate what a difficult comeback it was for Brentwood became clear early in the fourth.

Sugar made a 3-pointer a minute into the quarter to cut the deficit to 43-40, but seconds later, Rancho Christian’s Ebony Taylor-Smith answered with her own 3-point field goal to restore a six-point lead.

“Especially since they won two straight, it was definitely a little (nervousness) that they’ve been here before and they know what it’s like,” Taylor-Smith said. “(Winning) definitely means a lot, but it hasn’t quite hit yet.”

Alyson Boyd added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Rancho Christian, making 6 of 9 shots from the field.

“My other coach was demanding that I needed to rebound,” Boyd said. “I do what I’m told. I knew if I rebounded, we would have a great chance of winning the game.”

One of Rancho Christian’s top rebounders, senior Hailey Whitman, missed most of the game with foul trouble.

Whitman played less than 12 minutes as she picked up her fourth foul with 5:59 to play in the third quarter, but she still had six rebounds.

“I was disappointed for her,” Wells said of Whtiman. “She’s one of our leaders and she puts her all into this. To sit on the bench with foul trouble, that’s not what we practice for.”

Despite Whitman’s absence, Rancho Christian dominated with a 41-28 rebounding margin.

Brentwood’s Logan Scott did tie Boyd for game-high honors with 11 rebounds.