FULLERTON — The El Dorado girls basketball team fell behind by double digits early against Lakewood in a semifinal of the Sunny Hills Winter Parlay Tournament Friday at Sunny Hills High School.

El Dorado stormed back with a dominating fourth quarter and was a possession away from tying the score twice in the final seconds. But the Lancers, behind a 38-point effort from Nyemah King, held on for a 63-59 victory.

Bianca Carter #3 of El Dorado shoots over Devoni Ray #24 of Lakewood as Amy Rubio #2 of Lakewood look on. El Dorado played Lakewood in a girls basketball game on Dec. 27, 2024 in Fullerton CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer)

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King, the Moore League player of the year last season, scored 13 points in the first quarter to help the Lancers build an 18-8 lead and 32-22 lead at halftime.

“We just didn’t have an answer for her,” El Dorado coach Matthew Raya said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t start playing like we were capable of playing until the fourth.”

After King hit a pair of free throws to put the Lancers (11-4) ahead, 52-35 early in the fourth, El Dorado went on a 16-3 run to get to within four.

Later in the quarter, Sofia Shine scored on a layup off her own steal to get the Golden Hawks to within three at 57-54.

El Dorado (9-5) then missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with one minute, 30 seconds left.

After King hit one of two free throws to make the score 58-54, El Dorado’s Bianca Carter, who scored 11 of her 15 points in the fourth, hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with 32.9 seconds left.

King then scored and hit a free throw after being fouled on the play, to make the score 61-57.

Delaney Shiring, who finished with 15 points, then hit two of three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot to get the Golden Hawks to within two again.

But then Amy Rubio hit a pair of free throws to give Lakewood a four-point lead with 1.4 seconds left to quash the comeback by the Golden Hawks.

“My players played hard and they played with focus today until the last two minutes of the game,” Lakewood coach Eric Oswell said. “And then they let the ‘(Golden Hawks’) energy and their effort dictate how we were going to break the press instead of just going through our normal press.”

Since the tournament includes three teams from the Moore League, Sunny Hills girls basketball coach Jae Byun, the tournament organizer, made some changes to the brackets to avoid potential matchups between teams from the league.

So, despite the loss, the Golden Hawks will play in the originally scheduled championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday while the Lancers move to the consolation bracket.

“We had the capability of coming back,” Raya said. “I’m happy with the way we fought to the end. That’s all I ask, to keep fighting, keep fighting.”

El Dorado girls basketball makes late surge but loses to Lakewood in Sunny Hills tournament

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