The La Mirada girls basketball program reached the CIF Southern Section semifinals last year for the first time in school history. It was an impressive accomplishment for a program that had gone 20 years without a playoff win.

One year later, La Mirada head coach Victoria Luong has the Matadores in the semifinals for a second consecutive season. La Mirada earned the spot with a 46-31 win over West Covina in the Division 4A quarterfinals on Wednesday night.

La Mirada (19-10) will be home for Saturday’s semifinal against University Prep, a 42-41 winner over Schurr in the quarterfinals.

In just five seasons, Luong has rebuilt the girls basketball program into a competitive team with legitimate championship aspirations.

“After COVID we started fresh with a brand new team, all new girls,” Luong said. “A lot of these girls were freshmen when they started on varsity. They fought through all the adversities that they faced throughout the years and they’ve made drastic improvements.”

The Matadores put on a defensive clinic by holding West Covina to nine points in the second and third quarters combined.

“The girls really stepped up,” Luong said, “and we’ve been practicing the same thing, watching film and knowing what to expect and really executing everything that they’ve learned.”

West Covina ends the season with a 13-15 record, its most wins in a season since the 2021-22 campaign.

La Mirada forward Emily Gonzalez had a game-high 12 points and seven rebounds.

— Gabriel Duarte

DIVISION 3A

Cantwell Sacred Heart 87, Temescal Canyon 68: Cardinals senior guard Alicia Lara scored 29 points to lead Cantwell Sacred Heart to victory Wednesday. She routinely gashed the Titans’ defense with drives to the basket or backdoor cuts for easy layups.

Sophomore guard Leilani Dominguez lit the fuse, scoring 11 points in the opening frame as the Cardinals raced to a 23-7 lead.

Dominguez finished with 19 points. Marina Leiva scored 13 points, and Leilannie Chavez added 12.

CSH (21-7) takes a three-game win streak into Saturday’s semifinal at home against Whitney, which trounced Eastside, 71-33, in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

— Joe Taylor

DIVISION 3AA

Keppel 66, Oakwood 36: The Aztecs cruised to the semifinals with another easy win by 30 points.

Jessica Jiang had a double-double with with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and freshman Alyssa Canizal was solid across the board with 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Maile Tamaki had 14 points and Keira Kamida had 11 points.

The Aztecs will be at Chapparal for the semifinals Saturday.

WEDNESDAY’S SCORES

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION 2A

Burbank Burroughs 58, Pioneer 48

Rolling Hills Prep 55, Sonora 45

DIVISION 3AA

Keppel 66, Oakwood 36

DIVISION 3A

Cantwell Sacred Heart 87, Temescal Canyon 68

DIVISION 4AA

Tesoro 50, Maranatha 44

DIVISION 4A

La Mirada 46, West Covina 31

University Prep 42, Schurr 41

DIVISION 5A

Marshall 35, Mary Star 28

Gabrielino 74, Villanova Prep 20

Rosemead 41, Notre Dame 21

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

SEMIFINALS

Games start at 7 p.m.

DIVISION 3AA

Keppel at Chapparal

DIVISION 3A

Whitney at Cantwell Sacred Heart

DIVISION 4A

University Prep at La Mirada

DIVISION 5A

Bolso Grande at Rosemead

Gabrielino at Marshall