FULLERTON — Sunny Hills girls basketball coach Jae Byun said his team has been trying to find its identity on defense all year.

After Sunny Hills defeated Tesoro, 48-19, in a CIF-SS Division 5 second-round playoff game Saturday, the Lancers appear to have found that identity.

The Lancers (19-12), who advanced to the playoffs as an at-large selection out of the stacked Freeway League, have held their first two playoff opponents to a combined 44 points.

Sunny Hills held the Titans (17-13), the second-place team out of the Sea View League, to their lowest point total of the season.

“They’ve been hitting shots, and when I watched them on film, they could score,” Byun said of the Titans. “So, I was a little concerned, but our girls stepped up in a massive way defensively. Tonight, we were just challenging them to make shots over us, and they really struggled.”

Sunny Hills plays on road in the quarterfinals against the winner of the Fullerton-Bishop Diego game.

The Lancers shut Tesoro out in the second quarter and held the Titans to four points in the first and third quarters.

In the second quarter, the Lancers forced a shot clock violation on one possession and forced turnovers on two possessions as the shot clock was seconds away from expiring.

“We knew they had the size advantage against us,” Sunny Hills senior point guard Sydney Kim said. “But I think we did really well flying out, getting to shots, getting to the perimeter and keeping them out in the perimeter instead of the inside.”

During the second-quarter run, Rianna Jones converted her own steal into a 3-pointer to make the score 16-5.

Later in quarter, Kim scored on a breakaway layup off her own steal to make the score 18-5.

On offense, the Lancers operated out of a half-court set on nearly every possession, working the ball around the perimeter to find the best shot.

Jones led the Lancers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and teammate Allie Sexton scored 11 points.

“I always feed off my teammates,” said Jones, who returned to the lineup late in the regular season after being sidelined with an injury for most of the season. “They always encourage me.”

In Byun’s 10 years as coach, the Lancers have qualified for the postseason nine times.

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