Kayla Tanijiri’s clutch free throws help Birmingham hold off Granada Hills

She may have felt the butterflies inside, but on the outside, Kayla Tanijiri looked cool as a cucumber, calmly hitting two free throws with nine seconds remaining to clinch Birmingham’s 61-57 victory over Granada Hills in a West Valley League women’s basketball showdown Monday night.

Tanijiri finished with a game-high 25 points, none more important than the last two, as the Patriots (23-3, 8-0) extended their league winning streak to 32 games and are on the verge of winning their third straight league title.

“I’m getting really nervous… how can you not when there’s 100 people yelling at you?” said Tanijiri, a sophomore guard who also had six assists, five rebounds and four steals in the teams’ first meeting since Jan. 21 at Lake Balboa, also a four-point victory for the Patriots. “I tell myself I’m a good free throw shooter, I’ve done it a thousand times before and I take a deep breath.”

Kiara Wakabi added 12 points and grabbed a crucial offensive rebound after a missed Lacey Wilkins free throw with 25 seconds remaining, with her team up three points. Birmingham took advantage of its extra possession as Tanijiri was fouled and made the second of two free throws to create a four-point margin.

Mia Corona’s layup brought the host Highlanders within 59-57 with 10 seconds remaining, but Tanijiri was intentionally fouled on the inside pass and made clutch free throws that kept the Patriots in contention for the City Section Open Division playoff top seed. They haven’t lost to a sectional opponent all season.

“Our coach did a tremendous job preparing us, showing us their plays and how to protect them,” Tanijiri said of the Patriots’ Victor Koopongsakorn, who took over the program in 2015 and guided it to Open Division titles in 2022 and 2024.

Wilkins and fellow teammate Belinda Hernandez-Santiago each added eight points for Birmingham, which scored the game’s first seven points and built a 10-point lead. Isabella Valvidia’s three-pointer at the buzzer cut the Highlanders’ deficit to five at the end of the first quarter.

Birmingham led by six at halftime and maintained that margin through three quarters, but Granada Hills slipped to 57-55 on Alana Yeck’s steal and jumper in the lane with 1:30 to play.

Granada Hills guard Isabella Valvidia scores two of her 10 points against Birmingham on senior night.

(Steve Galluzzo / For Time)

All-City forward Araceli Gonzalez, one of nine Granada Hills seniors honored before kickoff, scored 14 of his team’s first 21 points but was held to four points in the second half. She finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, Yeck 11 points, Valvidia 10 and Jordyn Spidel-Rodgers added eight.

“For any team, the league is the most important part of the season, aside from the playoffs,” Tanijiri said. “When you’re a two-time defending league champion, you’re proud of it and you don’t want to reveal it.”

Granada Hills (18-8, 6-2) handed the Patriots their last league loss, 64-53, on Jan. 25, 2023, en route to their last league crown.