"Other than our boys soccer team winning a CIF Championship last year, this is the furthest any Lakeside team has gone in CIF playoffs," said Athletic Director Jeff Glenn as the girls varsity team lost to the state’s #18-ranked team, Alemany of Mission Hills, 79-54 in the CIF-SS Division 3AA Semifinals, last Friday night.

The deep athletic bench (18 players) of Alemany kept the full-court pressure on a Lakeside team that battled to the very end.

"They’re such a tough team with great heart," said visiting Alemany Coach Bryan Camacho. "You can’t ask for anything more in a playoff game than two solid teams battling it out."

And battle they did. It was a 15-14 first quarter, with Alemany’s 6’1" star forward Hannah Johnson scoring eight of her 14 points in the first quarter and Lakeside star forward Kianna Williams accounting for half of her team’s early points. Camacho’s pre-game concerns included containing Williams, "she can do it all." Unfortunately, Williams picked up her third foul with 1:29 left in the first period and the Lancers were held to two free throws until the halfway point of the next quarter. The Warriors forced eleven Lancer turnovers in the period, on the way to opening up an 11-point lead with the 21-11 quarter.

Lakeside’s McKayla Barbee opened up second half scoring right away with the second of her two three’s, sparking her team’s rally to come within four points, but Alemany’s Leslie Lopez-Wood responded with two three’s and two driving lay-ups to lead her team on a 12-0 run and a 26-19 third quarter. Lopez-Wood finished with 18 points.

Lakeside’s Kianna Williams led all scorers with 25; she also had six rebounds, four steals, and a block.

"That was the best game we had all year," said Lakeside Head Coach Anthony Williams. "I expected it to be a battle but you can’t have unforced turnovers against good teams in the playoffs…they had some timely three’s in the third quarter that neutralized our comeback and they were really deep."

Williams plans to apply for a bid to the State tournament.

"They compete at such a high level," said Camacho. "It will be a better tournament if they get in." Alemany goes on to the Division 3AA finals against Calabasas.