Desert Christian Academy women’s basketball coach Chris Johnson says he and his coaching staff have a simple strategy for their talented but young squad: don’t get in your way.

The Conquerors, who sometimes face five freshmen on the field, advanced to the CIF-SS Division 5AA semi-finals on Monday with a 70-63 quarter-final victory at home against Milken Community, the 2-ranked team in the division.

“I’m ecstatic, I’ve been telling the girls all year that our job as coaching staff is to talk to them about life and cheer them on and stay away,” Johnson said. “They are super talented. They played with great intensity throughout the game and they didn’t shake each other. They believe.”

The difference maker that night was 6-foot-1 rookie Hannah Shaver. The visiting Wildcats had no answer for his height and the Conquerors took advantage. Shaver finished with a career-high 29 points, most of them coming from backhands or well-managed offensive plays that earned him an open layup.

She was amazed to hear how many points she scored after the game.

Continued: Yucca Valley survives wild fourth quarter to prevail in quarter-final clash

Continued: Shadow Hills women’s basketball uses tenacity to advance to CIF-SS semis

“Wow! Oh my God. Well that was a great team effort and we worked really well together all night,” Shaver said after the game in a noisy gym with music and cheers. still echoing off the walls as fans celebrated their continued playoff run. . “One more win before the final. I’m really excited and overwhelmed right now.”

Although the Conquerors have plenty of talented young players, you always need a senior to calm things down, and point guard Melia Johnson has played the part. Johnson did a good job managing the Wildcats’ relentless all-court pressure defense.

Johnson had 12 of his 17 points in the second half and always had a response when Milken Community threatened.

The Conquerors trailed 18-13 early in the second quarter, but rode a 19-5 run capped by a 3-point Johnson to take a 32-23 lead. It was a lead they never gave up on. Desert Christian Academy led by nine at halftime and by 10 at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats, who never said they died, kept coming.

Milken Community cut a 12-point Conquerors lead in the fourth quarter to 65-61 with one minute left. A Shaver pullback made it 67-61, the Wildcats responded to make it 67-63.

That’s when Johnson had the biggest bucket of the game. After taking time off the clock, she stabbed down the hall for a left-handed layup to put the Conquerors ahead 69-63 with 20 seconds left and effectively freeze the game. The Wildcats missed some 3-point desperations and Johnson added another free throw to make the final 70-63.

Rookie Mia Aceituno and junior Natalie Duncan both added nine points for the Conquerors.

Arielle Snaper led Milken Community with 20 points, while Jasmin Maly-Danker had 18 and Zoe Dorff had 10.

Coach Johnson said the team felt they had that kind of run in them since the start of the season.

“You know how really good the volleyball program is here, so I challenged the girls, I said, ‘If you want to be like this, you have to work for it,'” Johnson said. “So since the beginning of June, these girls have been dedicated and it’s paying off now.”

Shaver agreed.

“Yeah, we’ve believed in ourselves since the start of the year,” Shaver said. “We work so well and click so well together.”

Next up for the Conquerors (17-10) is another home game. Desert Christian Academy, which is ranked No. 11 in the division, will host third-placed Laguna Beach on Wednesday. Desert Girls basketball fans may remember Laguna Beach as the team that beat Palm Desert 44-32 in the second round last week.

CIF-SS playoff schedule

TUESDAY MATCH

boys soccer

D5: Artesia at Desert Mirage, 5 p.m.

WEDNESDAY GAMES

girl basketball

3AA: Cerritos in Yucca Valley

3A: Trinity Classical Academy at Shadow Hills, 6 p.m.

5AA: Laguna Beach at Desert Christian Academy, 7 p.m.