Sierra Canyon girls basketball beats Mission Hills to set up rematch with Ontario Christian in regional playoffs

CHATSWORTH — The Sierra Canyon girls basketball team gets another crack at Ontario Christian.

The Trailblazers beat Mission Hills 71-26 in the first round of the CIF State Open Division playoffs on Wednesday night to set up a CIF Southern Section Open Division rematch as well as a rematch of last year’s CIF State Open Division regional semifinals.

“As a competitor, you want the best,” Sierra Canyon head coach Alicia Komaki said. “We’re not in an underdog role very often and we failed at embracing it the first game. You want to play the best and you want to prove you’re good enough and we did not play our best the first time so if anything we just want to play better.”

Ontario Christian beat Sierra Canyon 62-52 to secure a spot in the CIF-SS championship game. It was the only loss that the Trailblazers had taken during this year’s Southern Section playoffs.

Ontario Christian sophomore guard Kaleena Smith, the No. 1 recruit in the 2027 HoopGurlz rankings, scored 21 points in this year’s CIF-SS matchup and the Knights’ zone defense gave Sierra Canyon difficulties.

“We’re just trying to focus on what we have going on and what we’re going to do in our locker room,” junior Payton Montgomery said. “We’re not worried about any of the outside, what other people have to say. We’re just going to go into this game and play our hardest and focus on what we’ve got going on.”

Sierra Canyon (28-2) will be at No. 1 seed Ontario Christian (29-1) for the CIF SoCal Regional semifinal Saturday at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday night, 6-foot-4 center and four-star recruit Emilia Krstevski used her dominance in the post to put up 20 points of her 28 points by halftime. She teamed with Leia Edwards on the first two scoring possessions of the game, grabbing passes from the Lehigh commit for easy layups.

“It really brought up my confidence,” Krstevski said. “The last couple of games I haven’t really been showing my best and bringing it to the table, but tonight really proved to me that I really am a big part of this team and I bring a lot to the table in order to win the state championship.”

Mission Hills didn’t have the height to compete with Sierra Canyon. When Krstevski wasn’t in the paint, it was 5-foot-11 Payton Montgomery. Other players like Jerzy Robinson and Edwards are capable of posting up as well.

“We try to make each other better,” Montgomery said of herself and Krstevski. “Our connection off the court is what makes us better on the court. She’s one of my best friends, so we just try to realize each other’s strengths and once we figured that out along the season, it was easy. One, two, three.”

While the pair pushed the unsettled Grizzlies to the perimeter on defense, Edwards and Robinson scored transition baskets on offense.

Ashley Redd hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:30 left in the second quarter to give Sierra Canyon a 32-12 lead and the Trailblazers extended that lead to 40-15 at halftime.

The Trailblazers have been finding inspiration in previous Sierra Canyon girls basketball teams that won state championships despite not winning a CIF-SS championship. Two teams under Komaki achieved this, in 2019 and 2022, and the Trailblazers came close in 2024.

“We look up to them,” Montgomery said. “They paved the way for what we are right now so I think it’s important we reflect back on what their hard times were to put ourselves in that situation and know that we can play and we can win.”