Wildcats win first girls basketball league title since 1997

Members of the Paloma Valley girls basketball team pose after cutting down the nets Wednesday night.

Alejandra Espinoza led all scorers with 21 points and pulled down 8 rebounds Wednesday night to lead the Paloma Valley High School girls basketball team to a 61-30 victory over Arlington, enabling the Wildcats to wrap up their first league championship in 22 years.

Paloma Valley took a 17-5 lead in the first quarter and the Wildcats never looked back in finishing league play with a 13-1 record. Finishing as league champion for the first time since 1997, the Wildcats will head into the CIF Southern Section playoffs with an 18-9 overall record. CIF playoff match-ups will be announced on Sunday.

The Wildcats have won 12 straight games since their only league loss, a 50-43 loss at Orange Vista on Dec. 13. Paloma avenged that defeat by beating Orange Vista in overtime, 69-63, on Jan. 15. The Coyotes finished in second place with a 12-2 record.

Sophomore Mya Pierfax leads the team in scoring this season, averaging 21.4 points per game. Trinitee Bradley averages 13.0 ppg and Briann Willich 9.0 ppg. Espinoza is the team's leading rebounder at 8.3 per game.

Below is a short video showing some of the players cutting down the nets after the victory.