Centennial girls basketball team battles, falls to Sierra Canyon in desert showdown – Press Enterprise

INDIO — First-year Centennial girls basketball coach Matt Tumambing is eager to see how his team fares against other elite teams.

But when one of those elite teams is missing one of the top players in the country, he sees that as an opportunity to win.

That opportunity turned out to be a missed one Tuesday when Centennial’s comeback attempt came up short in a 62-55 loss to Sierra Canyon in the championship game of the T-Mobile Division of the Desert Holiday Classic at Shadow Hills High School.

“We wanted to play them full-strength,” said Tumambing, who once coached at Ontario Christian and led the Knights to a 28–5 record and a spot in the 2024 CIF Southern Division Open Division playoffs. “I’m more disappointed that we couldn’t capitalize by winning. We weren’t able to pull that off, but we’re going to continue to get better.”

Centennial (3-1) played four games in the tournament, the team’s first four games of the season after most of its varsity roster had to observe the sit-out period after transferring.

They got the chance to play Sierra Canyon (13-1), which is currently ranked seventh in the country by MaxPreps. And the Huskies played Sierra Canyon closer than anyone else except for the Trailblazers’ lone loss, 67-63 to JSerra on Dec. 3.

For most of those games, including all four games of the Desert Holiday Classic, Sierra Canyon was playing without senior South Carolina-bound guard Jerzy Robinson, who is ranked fifth nationally in the class of 2026 by ESPN. Robinson has played in fewer than five games this season.

“She’s had this lingering ligament ankle / foot issue,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki said.

The Trailblazers took control of Tuesday’s game in the second quarter. Sierra Canyon led 12-11 after a quarter but had a 12-3 run early in the second quarter to seize control and led by as many as 14 points (34-20) in the quarter. That lead grew to as many as 15 points (41-26) in the third quarter before the Huskies rallied

Centennial closed the gap to as little as four (44-40) in the final minute of the third quarter, but the Huskies were never closer than seven points in the fourth.

“That’s something we take pride in is our preparation,” Komaki said. “We were really prepared to guard them.”

Komaki said they watched each of Centennial’s first three games of the tournament in preparation for Tuesday.

“Today, we played a lot of hero ball,” Tumambing said. “Playing out of character. This is only our fourth game. I’m excited for what’s to come, because I know we’re going to get better.

“We came out (in the first quarter) great. Still missed probably 10 layups in the first quarter… They’re a very-well coached team who plays great defense.”

Centennial was led in scoring by two sophomore transfers from Ontario Christian, Sydney Douglas and Jelise Mix  Douglas scored 15 points and added nine rebounds, while Mix finished with 13 points.

One of Centennial’s few returning players, senior Cydnee Bryant, scored eight points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. But the Huskies struggled from the field throughout the game, making just 19 of 64 field goals (29.7 %) and 9 of 29 from 3-point range (31 %).

Sierra Canyon was led by Cherri Hatter, who scored 20 points, while Rosie Oladokun scored 14. Emilia Krstevski and Delaney White scored 12 apiece.

“She (Hatter) had a great tournament,” Komaki said. “This was another solid game.”

Centennial is a work in progress, but Tumambing fully expects both his team and Sierra Canyon to be among the top four seeds in the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.

“I think we’re a really good team. A top-25 team in the country,” Tumambing said.