Bishop Diego advanced to the CIF 5A Division girls basketball semifinals with a 54-46 quarterfinal victory over Pacifica Christian on Wednesday at Crossroads High in Santa Monica.
The second-seeded Cardinals (21-8) will play at Thacher on Saturday in Ojai for a berth in the CIF finals. Thacher held off Woodcrest Christian, 44-42, on Wednesday.
The Cardinals fell behind 33-28 in the third quarter against Pacifica Christian. But Jordyn Lilly pushed them back into a one-point lead at the end of the quarter, making a couple of baskets and some free throws. Lilly scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half and made 7 of 8 free throws.
Bishop stepped up its defense in the final quarter.
“The kids did a real good job defensively, defensive rebounding and contesting shots,” Bishop coach Jeff Burich said. “(Pacifica Christian) had a really quick point guard who was able to create and hit step-back shots. Morgan Wallace did a great job defending her as well K’lei Martinez. K’lei scored four points did a great job defensively.”
Hannah Rogers scored 17 points and Summer Soto hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers for the Cardinals.
