Once again heading into the CIF Los Angeles City Section D1 Playoffs as the #1 seed, the Granada Hills Highlanders cruised through the first two rounds of the 2026 postseason with consecutive lopsided wins over Bernstein and Marshall. Heading into Birmingham High School for the Semifinals, the Highlanders faced a potential challenge in the No. 5 seeded Jordan Bulldogs. The Bulldogs defeated Granada Hills 53-46 on January 7th in the Marquez Invitational. Granada Hills took control of the contest from the beginning of Friday night’s rematch with a 14-1 first quarter run to start the game. Granada Hills senior Rafayel Masumyan put up 22 points on the evening, and his team clinched a berth in the championship game with a dominating 48-30 win on both ends of the floor. 

The Highlanders quickly seized the momentum at the start of the game with a three-pointer on their opening possession from junior Jason Zaragoza. His triple was the spark plug for a 7-0 run, where Granada Hills scored on each of their opening three possessions. Jordan was completely overwhelmed by a suffocating Highlanders 2-3 zone defense who held the Bulldogs without a made field goal for the first 6:30 of the contest. 

Granada Hills head coach Jonathan Dent credited in the postgame interview the adjustments made by the coaching staff against the 1-2-2 zone defensive scheme in the wake of their January defeat. “We tried to play numbers.”, he stated, “If you’re playing two guys in one spot, we’re gonna to try to play three. If you play three guys, we’re gonna try to play four.” 

The Highlanders led 16-5 after the first quarter looking to further extend their lead. Refusing to give ground on the defensive end, Granada Hills crashed the defensive glass which led to transition opportunities on the offensive end. Masumyan brought the Granada Hills crowd to their feet midway through the second quarter, when he finished an alley-oop jam on a lob from Highlanders senior Mateo Achoyan. 

Trailing 24-12 with 3:29 left in the first half, Jordan head coach Tyrone Riley called a timeout to figure out a way to get the Bulldogs back into the game. Despite his efforts, the Highlanders were consistent with their ball pressure as they continued to force turnovers on the defensive end. Granada Hills executed their offense through their ball movement and man movement to close the quarter with a 6-2 run to take a 16-point lead into the locker room at halftime. 

After scoring 12 points in the first half, Masumyan made his mark on the offensive end in the third quarter. Scoring ten points in the period, he lived in the paint through attacking the rim and earning second chance opportunities from the offensive glass. “He’s our guy, man!” Dent said of Masumyan after the game. The turnover woes continued in the third quarter for the Bulldogs as they were unable to put together a run to put a dent into the Highlander lead. 

Granada Hills extended their lead to 44-24 as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Both teams struggled to score early in the quarter, as the Bulldogs defense held Granada Hills scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter. In spite of their offensive struggles, the Highlanders held Jordan to six points in the final period to put an exclamation point on a brilliant defensive performance in the 48-30 victory. 

After losing in the CIF D1 Semifinals last season to Poly as the top seed, Dent noted the importance of Friday’s win to the six returning seniors on his team in the postgame interview. Granada Hills will move on to face West Valley League rival Chatsworth in the CIF D1 Finals on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Highlanders defeated Chatsworth in both regular season matchups, but Dent refused to take comfort in their previous wins. “They’re slippery, they’re well coached.”, he stated, “It’s hard to beat them three times, but we’re up for the challenge.”