Brentwood girls basketball team wins state playoff opener for fourth consecutive year, relying on big fourth-quarter run to knock off La Jolla Country Day in Division 1 showdown

LOS ANGELES – For all the time that Lev Feiman and Reena White had to watch their Brentwood School teammates play in the first half while both athletes were sidelined with foul trouble Tuesday night, they more than made up for it with their impact during a two-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter in the opening round of the Southern California Regional in the Division 1 girls basketball state playoffs.

After Mahlia Washington tied the score for La Jolla Country Day on a 3-pointer with 7:30 remaining, Feiman and White combined for 11 unanswered points for the host Eagles, who produced a 74-63 victory against the No. 11 Torreys (17-12).

Post-game interviews

Brentwood (26-8), the No. 6 seed, won its state playoff opener for the fourth consecutive year and will play host Thursday against No. 14 Westview (21-9), a 45-42 winner at third-seeded Hamilton (26-3).

Westview earned its first state playoff victory since 2011, when the Wolverines reached the Division 2 regional semifinals.

The Eagles, who rebounded from a 58-48 loss Friday against Rancho Christian in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 final at Toyota Arena in Ontario, had five athletes score in double figures in Tuesday’s victory.

Brentwood girls basketball | Photo courtesy of Brentwood girls basketball

Feiman, a UC San Diego signee and the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,815 points, had 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals for Brentwood, which led 38-35 at halftime and maintained a three-point advantage entering the fourth quarter.

Although White didn’t score in the first half and wasn’t able to produce her first field goal until the fourth quarter, the junior finished with 10 points for the Eagles.

Logan Scott, a junior forward, was instrumental in Brentwood rallying from an early eight-point deficit and overcoming a 20-17 advantage for the Torreys following the first quarter.

Scott scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half, in addition to contributing six rebounds and six blocked shots for the Eagles.

Kelsey Sugar, a sophomore, added 12 points, nine steals and six assists, with freshman Jessica Liu scoring 10 points for Brentwood, which also received seven points from senior Payton Sugar.

The Eagles made seven 3-pointers, increasing their Southern Section record to 394. Only two schools in state history – San Diego Section programs The Bishop’s School and Mission Hills – have surpassed 400 3-point field goals in a season, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

Payton Sugar increased her program record to 129 3-pointers this season and 349 in her career, the latter ranking No. 6 all-time in the Southern Section and No. 19 in California prep history.

Mei-Ling Perry, a Princeton-bound junior, had a game-high 20 points and added 10 rebounds for La Jolla Country Day, which also tied the score at 48-48 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.

Washington, who scored 15 points including three 3-pointers, pulled the Torreys even at 53-53 to open the fourth quarter, but La Jolla Country Day didn’t make another 3-point field goal the rest of the way and wasn’t able to cut the deficit to fewer than nine points in the final five minutes.

Safiyah Sugapong added 11 points, with Atlanta Bass-Sulpizio contributing seven points and eight rebounds for the Torreys, who also received six points from Aoki Perry.

La Jolla Country Day was unable to rebound from a 63-42 loss Feb. 25 against Mission Hills in the CIF-San Diego Section Open Division semifinals and endured its first opening-round regional playoff loss since 2021.

The dozen losses were the most for the Torreys since the 2018-19 season, when the program went 22-12 and reached the Division 1 regional final.