Madi Lam leads Santa Margarita girls basketball past Esperanza in playoffs

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ANAHEIM — Santa Margarita point guard Madi Lam returned to her old school Thursday motivated to play the “villain” and get her teammates the ball.

The senior succeeded in both roles to help the Eagles collect a victory in first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Lam posted a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Grace Anderson scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half as Santa Margarita defeated Esperanza 65-54 in a clash of teams ranked in the Orange County Top 25.

Jasmine Williams scored 12 points off the bench, Elle Palmer had 11 points and Janaya Williams grabbed 11 rebounds as the No. 10 Eagles (18-10) beat No. 5 Esperanza (19-10).

In the second round Saturday, Santa Margarita will play host to No. 6 Villa Park (22-7), which beat Palos Verdes 71-50.

Charlotte Muller made four of her eight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 26 points for the Aztecs, the highest ranked public school in the county.

“It was a great team win,” said Lam, who played her first two season at Esperanza. “It’s just kind of crazy to come back here, especially playing the first CIF game here knowing that it’s a do-or-die situation.”

“And then having the student section, seeing friends that I used to know. It was pretty exciting for me,” she added. “It made me a little nervous but I think I was more excited to kind of come in and be the villain and to put it away.”

Santa Margarita took the lead for good in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half by sinking four consecutive 3-pointers.

After Palmer connected on a go-ahead 3-poimter for a 25-23 lead, Jasmine Williams sank consecutive shots from beyond the arc.

With about five seconds left in the half, center Jennea Holmes made another 3-pointer from the top of the 3-point arc to give Santa Margarita a 34-26 lead at halftime.

Taylor Black then opened the second half with a fifth consecutive 3-pointer off an assist from Lam and Santa Margarita took a double-digit lead.

“We just wanted to get into some type of a rhythm and transition was helping us with that,” said Santa Margarita coach Seyram Bell, whose team beat Redondo in the first round last season.

“(Lam) does a really good job scanning the floor to see where the shooters are, and not just where shooters are, but those who are hot.”

Esperanza coach Jimmy Valverde said of the Eagles’ close to the second quarter, “Those 2 1/2 minutes, they beat us.”

Santa Margarita led by as many as 15 points at 45-30 with about 2:30 left in the third quarter. Esperanza trimmed the deficit to six early in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Alexa Muller and to 61-54 on a 3-pointer by Charlotte Muller with 1:04 left.

But Santa Margarita’s Katie Wang stole an inbound pass under Esperanza’s basket with about a minute left to seal the victory.

“We gave it all we could,” said Charlotte Muller, Esperanza’s all-time leading scorer. “We’re upset but I think we’re all grateful we got to be here, playing in the first round.”