Girls’ basketball makes CIF, exits first round

Priya Mevasse ('26) shoots a three-pointer against Beverly Hills on Jan. 17, 2025.

The Samo girls’ basketball team ended their season on Feb. 13 after a 32-34 loss to Lawndale in the first round of the CIF playoffs. The team finished with an overall record of 11-15 and a league record of 6-4.

This year’s team has been defined by experience. With eight senior girls on the roster, the Vikings have shown maturity and composure throughout the season. Led by coach Lance Radford and co-captains Maya Allhouse (’25) and Kyla Cotton (’25), girls’ basketball have played a season to be proud of.

After finishing 9-13 in the regular season, the Vikings played an Ocean League tournament to determine playoff seeding and which team would be crowned league champions.

In the first game of this tournament, the Vikings had a dominant win, 54-31, over Centennial (Compton). In the next game, however, they were defeated by Lawndale by a score of 43-48. The Vikings closed out the tournament with a nail-biting, 53-52 victory over Leuzinger to finish 3rd in Ocean League. They finished behind runner-ups Lawndale and Ocean League champions Culver City.

The team’s performance in the league tournament and throughout the regular season was enough to punch a ticket to the playoffs. The playoff format for girls’ basketball is a 32 team, five round, single elimination tournament. The Vikings competed in CIF-SS Division 3A.

Their first playoff game was at Lawndale who they had lost to only 10 days prior. The teams were all square after the first quarter, 8-8, and finished the half even as well, 16-16. After halftime, things went south for the Vikings as the Lawndale Cardinals outscored them 10-7. With eight minutes left and a three point deficit, the Vikings needed to make a comeback. While they outscored Lawndale in the fourth quarter 9-8, it wasn’t enough and the Vikings lost by a score of 32-34. Kalea Oshidari (’26) spoke on the loss.

“It was definitely a disappointing loss,” Oshidari said. “Because it was a team we had seen three times, we went in knowing what we had to do, and we just weren't able to execute it as well as we had imagined.”

Some highlights of the girls’ season include double-digit wins against Yeshiva University of Los Angeles and Notre Dame Academy on back-to-back nights (Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 of 2024) and scoring 53 to defeat Leuzinger and place third in Ocean league.

Oshidari, who is set to return next year for her senior season, is proud of how the team has grown throughout the years and is hopeful for the next.

“[This season] was definitely a huge improvement from last season,” Oshidari said. “I think it shows how much we grew as a team and as a program. We need to continue that growth.”