MiraCosta Wins Big in Elite Eight, Advance to Final Four of the State
MiraCosta plays N4 Fresno City in semifinals on Saturday, 3 p.m.
VISALIA -- Despite starting the 2025-26 season with an amazing 27-game win streak, MiraCosta College still seemed to be trying to earn the respect of a program that had previously been an also-ran in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. Under first-year head coach Westly Perryman, the Spartans lost their PCAC finale to co-champion Palomar, but then beat the Comets in Round 2 of the SoCal Regionals.
As a No. 3 seed MiraCosta is carrying a competitive edge that has lifted it to great heights especially after knocking off North #2 Folsom Lake, 82-59, in the second quarterfinal of the 3C2A State Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon.
The Spartans improved to 30-1 while the Falcons (28-3) third straight trip to state ended in similar fashion with a quarterfinal defeat.
MiraCosta's All-State point guard Anayla Anderson answered the call on a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists. Melia Hinojos was a mad bomber off the bench as she rained six 3-pointers for a team-high 18 points. Faith Behrendt also was huge in reserve in contributing 14 points.
As what Laney did in earlier defeating Irvine Valley, MC matched it in opening a 12-2 lead on a 3-pointer by Faith Behrendt just 4:40 into the contest. The Spartans built it to 24-10 by the end of the first quarter with a long-range basket by Anderson, who was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field for 11 points.
When Folsom Lake appeared to be gaining momentum, cutting it to 27-18 on a 3-pointer by Lexi Peters, the Spartans went on a momentous spurt. MiraCosta put on a shooting show as Hinojos hit back-to-back threes, one from each corner. Chaya Scott followed with a trey of her own, Hinojos drilled another bomb, and then Anderson swished a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer as the Spartans took complete control at 47-20. It was a dizzying 18-2 run by MC.
In the third quarter, Jada Tupou capped a 15-6 run for FLC that sliced it to 56-40, but a short bank and triple by Behrendt again kept MiraCosta's distance in front of the Falcons.
Leading 63-45 after three periods, MC built the lead back to 23 points on a 3-pointer by Charlotte Dagnino. Folsom Lake battled back to be behind 72-59 on a Ava Schraeder basket. But the Spartans put the dagger in on yet another corner trey by Hinojos, putting the win on ice at 77-59 with 3:22 left.
Perryman said: "I like being the underdog and I want to be the underdog. It was like that at Grossmont (in 2024-25) when I took a six-win team a year before to 24 wins. And this season, I got the MiraCosta job and we went from eight to 30 wins! Our players have bought in and we're always looking for a way to be better even after a win. What's special is six of our players were with me the last two years as we experience this journey."