The Palos Verdes girls basketball team officially has transformed from a three-win team to a CIF-Southern Section champion.
The Sea Kings, the top seed in Division 4A, defeated Eastside 57-46 in Saturday’s final at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
Maddie Farnsworth led PV (24-7) with 35 points. She also had three rebounds, three assists, seven steals and two blocks.
PV started the season 13-0 and coach Daniel Rho said that made him to rethink the goals for the season. PV went 3-20 last season.
“Our goal before the season was to make the CIF playoffs,” Rho said. “After starting 13-0, we changed our goal a bit and I was starting to think that this could be a special season because I knew we would be battled-tested in the Bay League.”
PV finished the regular season defeating rival Peninsula. The Sea Kings received the top seed in the Division 4A playoffs.
“We’re a young team and throughout the playoffs, no one felt like it was going to be our last game,” he said. “The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals the body language was we had nothing to lose and we were able to come out swinging and play solid games.
“Young confidence …they have no fear and it really played into our advantage. Getting the win against Peninsula boosted our confidence, we went from not just hanging around, but turning the corner and getting the win. It was a big stepping stone going into the playoffs.”
Quinn Tamashiro scored 14 points and Katie Golden had six points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s championship win.