Blog: Calabasas Girls Basketball to Play at Home in First Round of State Playoffs Wednesday Night

The Calabasas girls basketball team came up one game short of winning its first-ever CIF champhionship. However, for a team that won only seven games last year, making it that far was still a historic achievement.

In the process, the Coyotes also earned a bid to the state playoffs and will host Selma High on Wednesday night at Calabasas High.

Calabasas (20-9) was defeated by Alemany, 67-39, at the Anaheim Convention Center last Thursday, March 28, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA championship game.

The Coyotes will face a Selma team that lost in the CIF-Central Section Divison III finals, 56-55, against Hanford West in a game played Saturday, March 2.

Calabasas is the No. 8 seed in Division III of the state tournament. Agoura, which won a CIF-Southern Section Division 3AAA title, will also play in Division III in the state playoffs and is the No. 3 seed.

The Coyotes and Chargers, both members of the Marmonte League, are in the same bracket, but would each need to win three games to face each other in the regional finals (the state semifinals) on March 16.

In the CIF finals' loss to Alemany, the Coyotes fell behind early and, in what was a rare occasion this season, where unable to come back.

Alemany (27-5) scored the game's first 10 points and although Calabasas fought back to make the score 21-16 in the second quarter, a 17-0 run by the Warriors to close out the first half, which upped their lead to 38-16, sealed the deal.

The Coyotes, which had come back from a 17-point deficit in the CIF semifinals against Santa Barbara, and a double-digit deficit the game before that in the quarterfinals against Jurupa Valley, was unable to do that against Alemany.

Still, the Calabasas seniors know that they will be leaving behind a legacy upon which a foundation has been built. And that will only continue in the states.

"We've never been this far," said Megan Charles, who led the Coyotes with 14 points against Alemany. "So I'm so happy that this year we can do that and I'm hopeful that it continues in the following years."

Senior forward Jaclyn Goodman contributed seven points against Alemany.

"We want to leave the girls that are going to be seniors next year with that mindset - that we can do anything we set our minds to," Goodman said. "If you really work hard anything can happen."

Jamie Rauchwarger, in her first-year as the Calabasas coach, had an important message for her players when they first met her in July.

"I told them on day one, 'Whether we win every game we play this year or we win no games this year, we're going to be successful no matter what happens in the wins and losses column,'" she said. "And if we put in the work, the wins will come."

20 wins was more than could have been expected. A trip to the CIF finals at the Anaheim Arena. And now a chance to play in the state playoffs.

"It feels great to leave a successful program in the hands of our team who will stay next year," said senior guard Lauren Tse. "I have high hopes for them and I know they'll still do well, even without us next year."