The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
In a perfect world, every single playoff game would be even-matched and come down to final moments. Unfortunately, the CIF Southern Section playoffs are not that world.
The Wilson girls’ basketball team faced that reality on Wednesday night in the CIF-SS Division 4 quarterfinals against El Dorado, which entered the matchup after a pair of 30-point wins in the first two rounds. The Bruins were next in line and couldn’t overcome an early sizable deficit in a 42–20 loss.
“They’re a really good team,” said Wilson coach Hank Waddles. “Nothing they did surprised us. We played the team in front of us, and we’re a really young team. I told them you can hold two emotions. You can be sad and disappointed, and you can also be proud of what we accomplished. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be disappointed with a loss in the CIF quarterfinals, I couldn’t have imagined that.”
El Dorado scored nearly half of its points in the first quarter, outscoring Wilson 19-3 in the opening period. The Golden Hawks had a pair of 10-point in the first half, including one late in the first quarter and another 10-0 surge heading into halftime to take a 35-6 lead.
Wilson had its most promising quarter in the third, where the Bruins outscored El Dorado 6-3 behind a strong stretch from Emily Alvarez-Smith. The sophomore guard scored 11 points in the second half and finished with 15 of Wilson’s 20 total points. Alvarez-Smith finished in double figures in all three of Wilson’s playoff games, scoring 14 against both Hesperia and Westlake.
When asked how special Alvarez-Smith has been during these playoffs, Waddles called her over and answered the question with her standing beside him.
“In these three games, when the lights are the brightest and the pressure is the greatest, she was our best player,” Waddles said. “She’s only a sophomore and she’s got so much more basketball ahead of her. This is just the beginning. She was tough tonight, and you can’t teach that. She didn’t back down, and it’s a treat to be able to coach her.”
“I just wanted you to be able to hear all of that,” he said, turning to her.
The Golden Hawks were led by Delaney Shiring, who finished the night matching the game-high of 15 points. Fellow senior captain Kennedy Wood chipped in 11 points on the night while Riley Morikawa had eight including a pair of three-pointers.
The loss caps Wilson’s first playoff appearance since 2023 and marks the Bruins’ first trip to the quarterfinals since 2020. After a successful second year as head coach, Waddles emphasized how young his team is and the bright future ahead.
“There’s a lot of room for this team to grow and I’m proud of what we did this year,” he said. “I’m sad for my seniors, like any coach this time of year, that for a lot of them their basketball journey is over—but I’m just proud of this group.”
El Dorado will go on to face Marina in the CIF-SS Division 4 semifinals on Saturday.
