New script for state final: Instead of Sierra Canyon, Mitty girls prepare for Etiwanda

As Archbishop Mitty, at long last healthy, ascended to the top of girls basketball in the northern half of the state with one blowout victory after another, the last matchup in the journey seemed preordained.

But even certainties have off nights.

Mitty did its part, rolling through two overmatched opponents in the regionals after shredding four others in the sectionals. Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth fell short, the Trailblazers’ bid for an undefeated season and a third Open Division state championship since 2019 going up in flames just as Mitty posed for a team picture Tuesday night to commemorate its regional title.

Instead of a rematch against Sierra Canyon, the school that routed Mitty in last year’s state Open final, the San Jose powerhouse will face Etiwanda for the title on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Instead of Mitty’s McKenna Woliczko and Morgan Cheli vs. Sierra Canyon superstar Juju Watkins, it’ll be Cheli and Woliczko against Etiwanda’s Kennedy Smith and Aliyahna Morris.

Etiwanda ended the USC-bound Watkins’ illustrious high school career, winning on Sierra Canyon’s home court 55-54 in the Southern California Open final, the triumph coming less than two weeks after Sierra Canyon beat Etiwanda 70-57 in a sectional final.

For Etiwanda, the reversal of fortunes was poetic justice.

Last season, Etiwanda went into the SoCal Open final with a perfect record and had beaten Sierra Canyon 69-57 in a section final. Sierra Canyon won the rematch 60-51 and then cruised past Mitty 85-61 in the state final.

Mitty coach Sue Phillips doesn’t have to be reminded that Tuesday’s outcome in Southern California will not change the challenge her team faces as it aims for its first Open state title and seventh state championship overall.

“You’re trading out the No. 1 ranked team in the country to what? The No. 3 ranked team in the country? We’re splitting hairs in terms of the difficult task at hand,” Phillips said. “They have something to prove. That was a team that was undefeated going into the SoCal finals last year and Sierra Canyon got ’em. This was a team that returned everybody.

“You’re talking about a goliath that is coming into Golden 1 Center out of Etiwanda, just incredibly solid at all five positions, really, really sound defensively and yet they’re super explosive offensively. This is how it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be an incredible challenge.”

In the SoCal final, Etiwanda broke a 54-54 tie when Morris made a free throw with 2.4 seconds left. The 5-foot-5 sophomore point guard finished with 17 points. Kennedy Smith, a 6-1 power forward, led Etiwanda with 21 points.

In the past six full seasons, Etiwanda has won no fewer than 26 games. But Saturday will be the program’s first trip to a state final.

Etiwanda coach Stan Delus said he is happy that his players’ hard work has taken the team to new heights.

“I don’t think people understand what it takes to play one of the toughest schedules in the country with all the top private schools in the country,” Delus told the Los Angeles Daily News after the regional final. “We’re the only public school to do that. And now we’re going to a state championship.”

The Mitty team that Etiwanda will face is different from the one Sierra Canyon crushed last season, largely because Woliczko was in eighth grade a year ago. The 6-foot-2 post is the breakout star of this season, a second high-profile player to complement Cheli, now a 6-2 junior facilitator in Mitty’s lineup since returning from a foot injury that kept her sidelined for much of the season.

In an 86-49 rout of Salesian in the NorCal Open final, Woliczko had a mindboggling 29 points and 21 rebounds and Cheli made numerous plays in addition to contributing 15 points.

“Last year we needed to hope that Sierra wouldn’t shoot as well as they did,” Phillips said. “And they were on fire, and we weren’t. You get a combination of that and it was a blowout. At the end of the day, coming outside, we’re going to need to make some shots and we’re going to need to make things difficult for them. If we don’t do that, it’ll be a similar storyline.

“But opposing coaches have a similar set of concerns with our team. We do offer a more seasoned approach inside the paint — Maya (Hernandez) is a year older and adding McKenna, who is averaging a double-double. Morgan’s a year older and more seasoned. We’re shooting the ball from 3 at a higher clip from multiple positions. This is the best rebounding team we’ve had.”

In other words, even with Sierra Canyon at home, this should be a heck of a matchup Saturday night.