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Sonora girls basketball shakes off rust, beats Downey in 2AA playoffs

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LA HABRA – Sonora’s girls basketball team played like what should be expected of a team that had not played in 13 days.

The Raiders were offensively out of sync at times, sometimes even sloppy.

Sonora mostly, though, played more than well enough to win. The Raiders defeated Downey 47-33 on Wednesday in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs.

The Raiders (20-6) will play at home Saturday at 7 p.m. against Crean Lutheran (21-3) in the quarterfinals.

Crean Lutheran defeated Glendora 69-35 Wednesday.

Sonora and Crean Lutheran have not played each other this season.

Sonora sophomore guard Kiana Graham scored a team-high 16 points. She made three 3-pointers.

Guard Jazmin Sheik added 12 points, including two 3s, and junior guards Mia Chavarin and Larissa Robles scored seven points each.

Downey (20-9) was led by junior forward Alexis Price, who scored 13 points. Sophomores Symantha Barnett and Genesis Salinas contributed six points each.

Sonora had not played since it defeated Buena Park in a Freeway League game on Feb. 3, the final day of the regular season. The Raiders received a first-round bye before playing Downey on Wednesday.

Downey defeated Murrieta Mesa in the Division 2AA first round Saturday.

“We were a little rusty because we haven’t played in like two weeks or something,” Robles said.

Sonora junior point guard Larissa Robles talks about the Raiders’ 47-33 win over Downey in the ⁦@CIFSS⁩ 2AA second round ⁦@ocvarsityguypic.twitter.com/dGnRpTRpyd

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) February 17, 2022

Sonora, though, played the cleaner game in the first half when the game was decided. Downey made eight first-quarter turnovers to Sonora’s two turnovers in the opening period after which Sonora had a 14-6 lead.

Nine more Downey turnovers in the second quarter helped Sonora take a 31-15 advantage into halftime.

Raiders coach Melissa Barajas liked her team’s energy and aggressive man-to-man defense that pushed the Raiders to the early lead.

“I loved our defensive effort,” Barajas said, “and I thought we were rebounding the ball really hard and that allowed us to overcome some of our mistakes on offense. We were just trying to get our rhythm back.”

Downey, meanwhile, was trying to find productive combinations. Vikings coach Nate Harris put 12 different players on the floor in the first half.

A Sonora surge early in the second quarter put the Raiders firmly in control. Three-pointers by Graham and Robles led the way.

Graham’s father Alvin promised his daughter that he would buy her a chocolate shake if she scored 15 or more points. Her 16 points was good enough to earn the reward.

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Barajas was told after the game about the chocolate shake goal.

“Whatever motiviation works,” Barajas said. “We’ve been wanting her (Graham) to shoot the ball more. If I’d known about this we’d be having chocolate shakes after every game.”

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