Ayla Teegardin Shares 'Joy' from State Championship Run After Losing Home in Palisades Fire

After losing her home in 2025 to the Palisades Fire, the Palisades Charter girls basketball team earned its way to the CIF State championship in 2026.

Palisades Charter senior Ayla Teegardin shares her gratitude for basketball and her teammates despite losing her home in the Palisades Fire in January of 2025. | Tarek Fattal

SACRAMENTO — Palisades senior Ayla Teegardin had everyone’s attention as she started to share the details from losing her home in the Palisades Fire, which burned a record 23,000 acres, claimed 12 lives and displaced a whole community in January of 2025.

Teegardin lost her home.

“We could see the fire on the hill, but we thought nothing of it,” she explained with watery eyes. “I packed my basketball bag and clothes I needed. We had a game the next day. My house burned down that night. We lived in a hotel for three months.”

Her story captivated the entire press conference room after Palisades’ 51-37 loss to Faith Christian in the CIF State Division IV final at the Golden 1 Center Saturday afternoon. But it was obvious the journey for Teegardin was much more valuable than any trophy she was playing for.

Basketball may’ve saved her life.

“I struggled with a lot of anxiety coming into the games, but it was also the only thing that kept my life stable and real,” she said. “The only thing that didn’t change was my team and it really helped being with them. They were my support system throughout this whole thing.”

Teegardin tallied two points, two assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes in the state final.

"I'm so appreciative of my team, how hard we worked to get here, and even though the outcome wasn't a win, I think the season itself gave me all the joy I could get from winning or losing,” she added.

Palisades Charter girls basketball poses with the CIF State runner-up trophy. | Tarek Fattal

Palisades coach LeBre Merritt said the team was displaced for more than a year, too, juggling where to practice each day and where to play home games. The campus just welcomed back students and sports activities on Jan. 27, 2026.

"Ayla lost everything. She's someone that didn't make excuses, so why should we? We rallied behind that and it made us grow closer as a group," Merritt said.

As far as the logistical challenges the past 13 months, Merritt had a nice one-liner for that.

"We didn't make excuses. We made adjustments."

Palisades finished the season 16-14 overall, but was good enough to earn an Open Division playoff berth in the LA City Section. Despite an early-round loss, the Dolphins were able to quality to the CIF State playoffs. The run to the state final included wins over La Palma Kennedy, Riverside Hillcrest, Marina and Godinez Fundamental in the regional final.

"I'm very proud us, that we made it this far," Merritt said.

Palisades earned a trip to the CIF State final in 2020, which would have been the first in program history. But the pandemic didn't allow the game to be played.

"We really wanted to bring this one home because in 2020 we punched our ticket to the state championship, but couldn't play it because of COVID," Merritt added.