Mamba mentality: Kobe Bryant-coached Amalia Holguin erupts for 61 points

Senior night at Sage Hill High School is typically about family, flowers, hugs, and one last lap of gratitude. But on Tuesday night in Newport Beach, Amalia Holguin turned it into a coronation.

Holguin is the youngest protégé from Kobe Bryant’s Mamba youth girls basketball team. She famously played alongside Bryant’s daughter Gianna. Six years after their death, she remains the last active high school player he coached. 

So it was only fitting that the Lightning senior channeled her inner mamba mentality and struck for 61 points — yes, sixty-one — burying an Orange County single-game record 14 three-pointers in a 101-26 dismantling of visiting Laguna Beach. By the time the third quarter ended, the record books were already smoldering. By the time she checked out, history had been rewritten.

Holguin’s shooting display broke Buena Park’s Isabelle Avalos’ county record of 13 threes set in 2020. She also reached the 2,000-point milestone for her career — all at Sage Hill — and did most of the damage before the fourth quarter even mattered. Magnolia’s Teresa Martinez still owns the county scoring record at 69 points, but this night belonged to Holguin.

The victory gave Sage Hill a 17-game winning streak, and the No. 1 ranked team in Orange County improved to 22-4 on the season. Holguin’s performance had Bryant’s fingerprints all over it. 

You could see flashes of Kobe in how Holguin moved with the ball in her hands without panic, how she hunts angles, and how much she loves and respects the game. Holguin has credited Bryant and his coaching for helping her fall in love with basketball  — not just the scoring, but the discipline, the intent, the demand for precision.

Holguin is committed to the Texas Longhorns as one of the nation’s top combo guards. She’s already led Sage Hill to a CIF State Division I final and will be the program’s all-time leading scorer by the time she graduates. 

But on Tuesday night, under familiar lights, Holguin didn’t just score points. She honored a legacy. She delivered a message. And she reminded Orange County exactly what greatness looks like when it decides not to whisper.