STUDIO CITY >> First came the shock.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Chaminade’s stunning 58-48 Mission League girls basketball victory Tuesday at Harvard-Westlake began to sink in for the players and coaches.

Then came the jubilation.

Small doses at first with high-fives, hugs and huge grins. Then when Chaminade made it into the locker room, the players let out a thunderous yell that reverberated throughout the Harvard-Westlake gymnasium.

“We had to prove to ourselves and to everyone else that we could do it,” Chaminade’s Isabel Newman said. “The big thing is that we all believed we were going to win tonight.”

All season long, Chaminade (14-8, 3-2) has had to hear about how it was not the same team without All-Americans Valerie Higgins and Leaonna Odom.

That talk heightened when Harvard-Westlake ran Chaminade off the court in a 60-40 victory on Jan. 11 and Alemany did the same in a 65-43 victory on Jan. 13.

“That was a wake-up call,” Chaminade’s Jasmine Moore said. “We had to get it together.”

Since then, Chaminade has rattled off seven consecutive victories, building confidence and camaraderie with the help of the return of assistant coach Mara Lux, who was part of the staff for two CIF Southern Section Open Division crowns and one CIF State Open Division title.

“We’ve come a really long way,” Chaminade coach Kelli DiMuro said. “Earlier this season, we were struggling to find our identity. But we’ve been practicing hard and we got our confidence going.

“We were winning during this streak. It was good competition, but not great, but we needed to feel good about ourselves. I had been really hard on them. They came through tonight though.”

So Chaminade spread out its offense and picked up the pace. It defense was more aggressive, jumping into passing lanes, contesting shots while trying to be physical with twins Jayla and Jayda Ruffus-Milner.

“We watched so much film that I thought I was going to pass out,” Newman said, laughing.

Harvard-Westlake (20-3, 3-2) had been in the midst of a sparkling campaign, beating a slew of powerhouses while suffering losses to just Ventura and Alemany.

But Harvard-Westlake never found its flow in the game and struggled to match Chaminade’s Casinomaxi energy.

“Chaminade played well and hit some big shots, but our intensity was not there for us,” Harvard-Westlake coach Melissa Hearlihy said. “Our defense is usually pretty lockdown, but that was not the case tonight.”

Melissa Wright led a balanced Chaminade attack with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Newman notched nine points.

Mackenzy Iwahashi celebrated her 17th birthday in style with eight points and five steals. Moore totaled six points and seven rebounds.

“I was so happy when we got this ‘Dub,’” Iwahashi said. “I knew we could do it. It was great.”

Alyssa Fisher had six points and six rebounds, including a 3-pointer in the final seconds before halftime to tie the game 29-29 and give Chaminade momentum heading into the second half.

El Camino Real transfer Alexis Rodriguez - who became eligible this month after serving a sit-out period following her transfer - had her best all-around performance at Chaminade with five points and four assists while showing creativity on offense. Freshman Alexis Whitfield also showed flashes of greatness with six points.

“We talked a lot and moved the ball well. That was great teamwork that we had,” Fisher said. “I think we proved we can compete with anybody and that we can beat anybody.”

Melanie Hirsch played with some fire for Harvard-Westlake, scoring her team’s first eight points of the game and finishing with a career-best 19 points.

The Ruffus-Milners were tough as usual with Jayda posting 12 points and nine rebounds and Jayla going for nine points and 10 rebounds.

But they certainly appeared to be off their usual game.

“The beginning was solid. Then it started going downhill in the second quarter,” Hirsch said. “Our spirits got down, and that 3-pointer right before the half gave them momentum that they carried into the second half.

“We’re definitely going to use this as fuel for our next game. We have two more games in league and all the rounds of CIF and state. We will use this to push ourselves.”

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