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In early December, a few Sage Hill girls basketball players lingered after their game at the Troy Classic to watch JSerra knock off a Sierra Canyon team without future McDonald’s All-American Jerzy Robinson. The Lightning got the same chance against the Trailblazers two nights later and lost by 16 points.

Sage Hill dropped its next game as well but after that, its season was never the same.

After a surprising coaching change, the Lightning unleashed a 22-game winning streak, highlighted by a 30-point triumph against nationally-ranked Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas and an 11-point win against Mater Dei.

This past Saturday, the Lightning not only faced Sierra Canyon with a healthy Robinson in the lineup as a recently-crowned CIF-SS Open Division champion, they took the court in the semifinals of the CIF Southern California Regional coming off a 32-point loss to Ontario Christian.

Sierra Canyon beat Ontario Christian for the section title to further cast Sage Hill as the underdog.

The Lightning, however, delivered a performance that stunned the SoCal basketball community.

With Amalia Holguin scoring 17 of her 26 points in the second half, Eve Fowler blocking consecutive shots late in regulation, Sage Hill erased a four-point deficit with just over 1:30 left to claim a 57-54 victory to reach Tuesday’s Open Division regional final at Ontario Christian.

“I think everyone was surprised but I’m very proud of the girls,” said interim Lightning coach Jethro Julian, who replaced longtime coach and state champion Kerwin Walters after the Troy tournament.

“(I’m) really happy for them. Eve was huge for us (Saturday) and Addison (Uphoff) was huge on the defensive end as always and also got some huge baskets for us. Amalia did a great job leading the team.”

In beating Sierra Canyon for the first time since becoming an Orange County power, Sage Hill (28-5) overcame a 54-50 deficit late in the fourth period.

After top-seeded Sierra Canyon (30-3) stalled in the backcourt to chew up time, Fowler blocked a layup attempt out of bounds with 1:40 left. Coming out of a timeout by the Trailblazers, the 6-foot-4 sophomore then blocked a 3-point attempt and raced into transition.

Holguin grabbed the rebound and tossed a long pass to Fowler for a layup as the Lightning cut their deficit to 54-52 with 1:30 remaining.

Following two missed free throws by Sierra Canyon, Holguin drove against Robinson — who guarded her most of the game — and scooped in a layup while being fouled with 40 seconds left. The Texas signee completed the three-point play to give Sage Hill the lead for good 55-54.

Sage Hill made a few more plays to seal the victory.

Kamdyn Klamberg, who had a quiet scoring game, grabbed a key rebound with 16 seconds left and drew the fifth foul against Robinson. Fowler blocked another shot, her fifth, with 15 seconds remaining after a Sage Hill turnover. And Holguin sank two foul shots with six seconds left to extend the lead to 57-54.

Sierra Canyon missed a 3-pointer on the final shot to finish scoreless for the final 2:30 of the fourth quarter.

Sage Hill burst into celebration as it notched a single-season, school-record 28th victory.

Holguin made 8 of 12 shots from the floor in second half. She tallied four blocks and three assists.

Robinson, a South Carolina commit, scored 26 points.

Fowler scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for a double-double. Uphoff scored nine of her 15 points in the second half and finished with two three-point plays.

Before the semifinal, Julian credited Sierra Canyon’s strength and again compared the challenge to scaling Mount Everest. But he added a reminder about the importance of teamwork, calling the game a “battle for us.”

Sage Hill especially united in the critical moments.

Late in the first half, Holguin sparked the Lightning with a long pass to reserve Audrey Reynolds for a layup, which cut Sierra Canyon’s lead to 32-24 with six seconds left.

And after trailing by 11 points early in the third quarter, Sage Hill took a 44-39 lead on a 3-pointer by Alyssa Cuff with 59 seconds left in the frame.

With Sierra Canyon calling for a double-team of Holguin on the play, she passed to Fowler at the high post. The center found Cuff on the wing for the only 3-pointer Sage Hill sank in the second half.

Sage Hill outscored Sierra Canyon 33-22 in the second half by driving to the basket and going 8 for 8 from the foul line.

For the game, the Lightning made 13 of 14 free throws. Sierra Canyon finished 17 of 22 from the foul line.