Laguna Hills bench look on against Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Lena Goodman #13 of Laguna Hills drives to the basket past Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Meghan Rehmeier #25 of Laguna Hills reaches for the ball against Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Amanda Yuson #21 of Laguna Hills shoots against Woodland Christian in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Lena Goodman #13 of Laguna Hills drives to the basket past Siena Sorbello of Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Lena Goodman #13 of Laguna Hills shoots past Sofia Sorbello #4 of Woodland Christian in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Keira McDermott #11 of Laguna Hills reaches for the rebound against Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian rebounds blocks TJ shot by Amanda Yuson #21 of Laguna Hills in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Meghan Rehmeier #25 of Laguna Hills reaches for the ball against Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Meghan Rehmeier #25 of Laguna Hills Shoots over Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Lena Goodman #13 of Laguna Hills drives to the basket against Woodland Christian in the second half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian blocks a shot by Amanda Yuson #21 of Laguna Hills in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Meghan Rehmeier #25 of Laguna Hills reaches for the rebound against Annabell Baker #1 of Woodland Christian in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Siena Sorbello #20 of Woodland Christian rebounds against Laguna Hills in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Lena Goodman #13 of Laguna Hills reaches for the ball against Annabell Baker #1 of Woodland Christian in the first half of a girls Division V CIF State basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Woodland Christian poses for a picture prior to a girls Division V CIF State basketball game against Laguna Hills at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 13, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
SACRAMENTO – When a season ends with a one-sided loss in a championship game, it can take some time for athletes to put it all in perspective, to appreciate that getting to a championship game is a major accomplishment.
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The Laguna Hills girls basketball team decided, why wait?
The Hawks were looking at the bigger picture immediately after their 63-30 loss to Woodland Christian on Friday in the CIF State Division V championship game at Golden 1 Center.
“It’s an amazing way to end the season,” said Laguna Hills senior forward Meghan Rehmeier. “We’ll always be grateful for that.”
“That we got here is incredible,” said Hawks senior guard Lena Goodman.
Laguna Hills finished the season with a 21-12 record. Friday’s game was the school’s third CIF State championship girls basketball appearance. The Hawks are 1-2 in state girls basketball finals.
The Hawks’ season started with a 41-point loss to Northwood. They got into the CIF Southern Section playoffs by winning a third-place tiebreaker game against Tustin, 43-42, in the Golden West League. They lost by 27 points to Kennedy in the CIF-SS Division 7 championship game.
In the CIF Southern California Regional Division V playoffs, fourth-seeded Laguna Hills beat top-seeded Rosamond in the semifinals. And the Hawks’ season finished by playing in a state championship at the home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
“We had to make it here for Cameron,” said Goodman, referring to Laguna Hills senior guard Cameron McDermott. “It’s been her dream to play in an NBA arena.”
Goodman enjoyed the NBA arena opportunity, too, compared to what she called the “dimmer and mustier” high school gyms.
High school teams often have shooting struggles in big college or pro arenas with their deep and dark backdrops. Laguna Hills did. The Hawks made 12 of their 47 shots (26 percent), including going 5 of 22 (23 percent) on 3-point attempts.
No Hawks player scored in double figures. Senior reserve guard Marisol Bahena led the team with nine points in her 12 minutes.
Woodland Christian (33-3), a small private school from the town of Woodland, repeated as CIF State Division V champions.
Woodland Christian was the bigger team Friday and moved the ball around quickly on offense to consistently get the ball to an open player inside or outside.
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Forward Siena Sorbello made 10 of her 16 shots for a game-high 21 points. Her freshman sister Sofia Sorbello had 13 assists and six steals.
Laguna Hills missed its first five shots of the game before Keira McDermott made a 3-point basket. The Hawks then took a brief lead, 5-4, on an inside basket by Meghan Rehmeir.
Woodland Christian then outscored Laguna Hills 18-0 on a run that ended in the second quarter.
The Cardinals outscored Laguna Hills 24-6 in the second quarter.
Laguna Hills was 5 of 22 on all shots in the first half and committed 15 turnovers. The Hawks finished with 28 turnovers.
The third quarter was the Hawks’ best quarter, with 12 points to Woodland Christian’s 14.
The Cardinals had a great fourth quarter, outscoring Laguna Hills 16-7.
Laguna Hills coach Jim Martin was disappointed by the outcome, but happy that the Hawks went so far this season.
“We came a long way from barely squeaking into the playoffs and then making this run,” he said. “Going forward, these girls have a lot of great memories.”
Woodland Christian had its five starters on the court at the final buzzer despite its 33-point lead.
Martin declined to comment on that.
Woodland Christian coach Shiloh Sorbello, father of Siena and Sofia, said he wanted his starters to be on the court together to conclude their championship run.
“We wanted to finish strong with those players on the floor,” Sorbello said.
The Woodland Christian coach praised the Laguna Hills team.
“That’s a classy program,” Sorbello said. “Their coach does a great job. I respect the way they carried themselves.”
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