Clovis West and Long Beach Poly were in a competitive battle in the Girls Open Division regional final with several minutes remaining.
Poly tried to use their physicality against Clovis, but their efforts were falling short, down 39-37 with just under six minutes left. Clovis got to every 50/50 ball down the stretch, and had a five-point advantage inside two minutes. Continuing to fight, Poly's Danae Miller nailed a big 3 to make it 48-44 Clovis.
Poly applied pressure late, but Clovis stayed composed and held on to advance to Sacramento with a 53-44 win.
"We don't have one point guard, we have kids that play multiple positions and can handle the ball," Clovis head coach Craig Campbell said.
The versatility of Clovis shined through on the stat sheet, with Sarah Bates (10 points), Megan Anderson (10 points), and Tess Amundsen (9 points) all contributing well.
Jasmine Jones (13 points, 17 rebounds) and Ayanna Clark (5 points) led Poly in a losing effort.
"They went hard and tried to keep up with us, and they got the win," Clark said.
Head coach Carl Buggs added, "we didn't shoot well, but I'm extremely proud of the effort."
Clovis went on a run early in the third by hitting outside shots, and had a narrow 31-28 lead. A Long Beach Poly three made the score 35-33 at the end of three, setting up an exciting final quarter.
Throughout the first half, both teams played solid defense and shared the ball offensively. The teams each scored 22 points by halftime, foreshadowing an intense second half.
Neither team shot the ball well, as Poly made just 29.2 percent of their attempts, while Clovis converted on 31.4 percent of theirs.
Clovis advanced to the state championship game next weekend at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
