Bryan Bartley is the new boys’ basketball coach at West Ranch. He has coached on the East Coast and helped out as a scout last season for Heritage Christian.

Josh Beaty is leaving Fountain Valley to become the boys’ basketball coach at Edison.

Greg Fontenette is the new boys’ basketball coach at Valencia, replacing Bill Bedgood, who has retired. Fontenette was an assistant coach.

By David A. Willauer-Contributing Writer-Frontwave Arena-Oceanside, CA-Friday, February 28,2025-The Lady Grizzlies at 22-8 behind the 23 point performance from Sportsmanship Award winner Maleena Nava, 12 points each by Bay Cordova and HC Harding defeated the Lady Lancers from Francis Parker School by a 60-51 score for the San Diego Section Girls Open Division Title.

Mission Hills Veteran Girls Basketball Coach Christopher Kroesch: "Maleena is a big strong guard and will play at a Division I school. "I love her mentality on the court halfway through the season, she has been a good teammate for years and has contributed to our squad."

Maleena Nava on her performance for Mission HIlls : "In tonight's game no one wasn't guarding me while taking the ball to the rim with my athleticism." When I shoot the ball I use my forearm form so I will feel better using it a lot to score my points "

For the Lady Lancers of Francis Parker at 20-9 Kaitlyn Raagas led with 14 points, Isabella Riddle contributerd with 13 points and Brianna Mendez 11

This is Mission Hills 6th overall title in girls basketball history. The other years they won other CIF San Diego Section titles were in Division I when they defeated Mount Carmel 62-43 in 2014 and 2015 played Mount Carmel and won 58-41, 2016 defeated LaJolla Country Day School 68-64, 2017 defeated Bishop's School 65-47, 2024 defeated LaJolla Country Day School 63-56.

With the win the Lady Grizzlies improve to 22-8, along with other schools throughout San Diego will wait who they will play in the CIF State Tournament pairings on Sunday.

Here's what Rivals' Nebraska staff has to say about Valencia RB Brian Bonner:

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By Jacob H. Pollon

It was Ariza vs. Arenas Friday night at LA Southwest College.

Not Trevor vs. Gilbert.

But Tajh vs. Alijah.

Tajh's Westchester team came out on top in a 65-55 victory to claim the LA City Section Open Division championship before a 1,600 sellout crowd.
Tajh Ariza scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dashed out four assists to lead Westchester, which won its first city title in the post-Ed Azzam era.
Ariza shot 5-16 from the field but made plays and set up his teammates for good looks at the basket.

Alijah Arenas scored 33 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Chatsworth, the top-seed in the playoffs. Arenas shot 13-33 from the field.

The game was tied at 28-28 at halftime before Westchester took a 39-30 lead with an early third quarter run. Chatsworth had the deficit down to five points late in the game when Taj Unuakhalu made a slam dunk.

However, Unuakhalu did a chin up using the rim and was whistled for a technical foul. Another technical foul on a Chatsworth player gave Westchester more free throws and ball possession.

Westchester is likely headed to the Div. 1 state regionals. Chatsworth could be Div. 1 or slip to Div. 2

Brackets come out Sunday.

Tommy Leach has resigned as football coach at Jurupa Valley. He will be replaced by Cade Sparks, a former quarterback at Summit.

Carson Palmer is returning to high school to be the head football coach at Santa Margarita. He was a volunteer freshman quarterback coach for the Eagles last season when his son played quarterback for the team.

In another big coaching announcement, Malcolm Manuel has resigned after four years as football coach at Narbonne, which won the City Section Open Division championship but was also placed on probation and made ineligible for next season’s playoffs after seven ineligible players were discovered.

Stephen Barbee has resigned after seven years as football coach at Long Beach Poly. That opens one of the top public school coaching positions in the Southland.

Dave Ramos, the football coach at Schurr for 10 years, has resigned.

Garfield has named former quarterback Patrick Vargas as its replacement for Lorenzo Hernandez. Vargas served as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator, is a teacher on campus and has lots of support. He’s 33 and is getting his dream job after years of training under Hernandez.

By David A. Willauer-Contributing Writer-Thursday, February 27th, 2025-Sage Creek High School-Carlsbad, CA: The 20-9 Eagles from Tri City Christian behind Dre Cleeves 22 point performance defeated the Firebirds of Del Lago Academy at 17-15 by a 53-49 score to take the CIF San Diego Section Division IV Boys Basketball Title their 3rd title in school history.

"Dre Cleaves is really special as he stepped up tonight in the contest for doing his role on the court in a big moment like this he kept on working at our school last summer to improve on his skills and showed it on the floor tonight, he is very mature since this is last season at TCC as he took over knowing what he is supposed to do. " said Coach Darrick Jones.

Jack Bush from Tri City Christian received the Sportsmanship Award for the Eagles. The CIF State Pairings will be out on Sunday, March 2 2026

Crawford Colts win first 2025 San Diego CIF Section Title in School History with a 38-37 victory over Escondido Cougars

For the first title in the history of Crawford High School at 16-14 after a defeat in the 2016 by Grossmont High by a 38-31 score, the Lady Colts showed what they proved on the Sage Creek HIgh School Gymnasium before a capacity crowd look on behind the 22 point performance of Fatuma Abid as she won the game with 1:27 left as she sank a 3 point basketball to put the Lady Colts over the Lady Cougars of Escondido 11-15 for the final score of 38-37.

David Lockett Crawford Girls Basketball Head Coach: "It was one of the tightest games I have coached in my career at Crawford " "I give Fatuma the green light I call her Coach when she is out on the court playing the game along with telling her players what to do."

Fatuma Abid on her performance vs. Escondido: "It was a great performance we started off kind of slow we looked good in the fourth quarter as we hung in well with Escondido we locked up tight on our defense that is how we won the game." First half we turned the ball over along with not playing our defense that is how they drilled their shots in the second half we picked our momentum up for us to win the game." "When we trailed 37-35 my shots were falling in a lot of the games we played but today I am glad that I made the basketball then we got the win." It is good tonight as I played for Crawford for the last 4 years and never made it past the second round of the CIF San Diego Section but I feel good about tonight."

The Lady Cougars of Escondido were led by Naomi Gutierrez with 23 points, Anaya McGlory with 14.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PAIRINGS

First Round

(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

Open Division

Wednesday
#1 Eastvale Roosevelt, bye
#5 St. John Bosco at #4 Harvard-Westlake
#6 San Diego Montgomery at #3 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame
#2 Santa Maria St. Joseph, bye

Division I

Tuesday
#16 Corona Centennial at #1 Sierra Canyon
#9 Mission Bay at #8 Santa Barbara
#12 Fairmont Prep at #5 Carlsbad
#13 San Marcos at #4 JSerra
#14 Newport Beach Pacifica Christian at #3 Redondo Union
#11 Cathedral Catholic at #6 Los Alamitos
#10 Crean Lutheran at #7 Mira Costa
#15 Torrey Pines at #2 Santa Margarita

Division II

Tuesday
#16 Sage Creek at #1 Riverside Poly
#9 Canyon Country Canyon at #8 St. Augustine
#12 Oak Park at #5 Bakersfield Christian
#13 Victory Christian Academy at #4 Santa Fe Christian
#14 Knight at #3 Chatsworth
#11 Irvine at #6 Francis Parker
#10 St. Bonaventure at #7 Cleveland
#15 La Jolla Country Day at #2 Westchester

Division III

Tuesday
#16 Righetti vs. #1 Palisades, 7 p.m. at Birmingham
#9 Aquinas at #8 Bakersfield North
#12 Norte Vista at #5 San Gabriel Academy
#13 Venice at #4 Mission College Prep
#14 Washington Prep at #3 Olympian
#11 Keppel at #6 Maranatha
#10 San Dimas at #7 Mira Mesa
#15 Birmingham at #2 Sage Hill

Division IV

Tuesday
#16 Citrus Hill at #1 Fresno Christian
#9 Elsinore at #8 Southwest SD
#12 Ramona at #5 Grant
#13 Garden Grove Pacifica at #4 Maranatha Christian
#14 Tri-City Christian at #3 Sun Valley Poly
#11 Bernstein at #6 Garden Grove Santiago
#10 Monache at #7 Granada Hills
#15 California at #2 Fairfax

Division V

Tuesday
#1 Hacienda Heights Wilson, bye
#9 La Puente at #8 Strathmore
#12 New West Charter at #5 Diamond Ranch
#13 Rosemead at #4 Kaiser
#14 South El Monte at #3 Alhambra
#11 Downtown Magnets at #6 Sierra Vista
#10 Arroyo at #7 Math & Science College Prep
#15 Saddleback at #2 Pacific Ridge

Note:
Quarterfinals in Division I-V are Thursday at higher seeds;
Semifinals in all divisions are Saturday at higher seeds;
Finals are Tuesday, March 11, at higher seeds.

Per the Rivals Oregon writers:

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SATURDAY’S RESULTS

SEMIFINALS

OPEN DIVISION
#1 Ontario Christian 69, #4 Sierra Canyon 57 (OT)
#2 Etiwanda 67, #3 Santa Ana Mater Dei 57

DIVISION I
#4 Windward 79, #1 Fairmont Prep 55
#2 Sage Hill 59, #6 Brentwood 39

DIVISION II
#1 Monache 55, #5 Portola 43
#7 Rancho Bernardo 44, #6 Arroyo Grande 37

DIVISION III
#5 Chula Vista Mater Dei 57, #1 Palisades 55
#2 El Camino Real 64, #3 Garfield 47

DIVISION IV
#1 Cantwell-Sacred Heart 43, #5 Gahr 40
#2 Cerritos Whitney 45, #3 Granada Hills 39

DIVISION V
#4 Rosamond 59, #8 St. Pius X-St. Matthias 50
#3 Hillcrest 48, #7 Santa Ana 33

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

FINALS

OPEN DIVISION
#2 Etiwanda at #1 Ontario Christian

DIVISION I
#4 Windward at #2 Sage Hill

DIVISION II
#7 Rancho Bernardo at #1 Monache

DIVISION III
#5 Chula Vista Mater Dei at #2 El Camino Real

DIVISION IV
#2 Cerritos Whitney at #1 Cantwell-Sacred Heart

DIVISION V
#4 Rosamond at #3 Hillcrest

Note: State Finals are Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 at Golden 1 Center, Sacramento

By David A. Willauer-Friday, February 28, 2025-Frontwave Arena-Oceanside, CA-

After the first 2 tries in the CIF Open Division Boys Basketball finals after losses to St. Augustine's 85-63 score in 2023, 85-53 to the Lancers of Carlsbad in 2024, the third time was the charm for Aztecs charm as these 2 schools met last season but the story was a bit different as the top ranked Aztecs of Montgomery at 29-2 made school history and won their first CIF Open Division San Diego Section Boys Basketball Title behind the 21 points of Sports ship Award winner Xair Mendez 13 by teammate Devin Hamilton defeated the 2nd ranked Lancers of Carlsbad at 25-6 ranked 2nd in San Diego by a 53-45 score.

Montgomery Aztecs Boys Head Basketball Coach Edwin Martin: "Just an incredible game, I give credit to the kids, it was such a struggle shooting the ball at the beginning here in Frontwave Arena but their determination and will as I was impressed with them so nervous but this game went over the top as Carlsbad's toughness and grit showed it in today's game and they have an outstanding team but this game was back and fourth in the latter part as we made a run at the end." "When we led 51-46 our defense was connected and focused on how we played as the shots were going to fall in that's part of basketball I knew eventually it would happen as long as we kept defending." " At the half the game was 20-19 in favor of us it is like trying to squeeze water out of a rock it made me laugh but we showed it tonight they did the same thing to us I knew on the defensive side out offense stepped up."

For the Lancers at 25-6 Jake Hall led with 15 points followed by Jayden Garner with 10.

VALLEY LEAGUE ALL LEAGUE BASKETBALL TEAM 2024-2025

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Janelle Estrella- Northridge Academy

COACH OF THE YEAR
Peter Almaguer- Northridge Academy

ALL LEAGUE TEAM
Neriah Adjei- Sherman Oaks CES
Sultana Ahmadzai- Sherman Oaks CES
Alyssa Alvarado- Vaughn
Viviana Caloca- Sherman Oaks CES
Estefany Contreras- Vaughn
Jennalyn Gerona- Northridge Academy
Delilah Hernandez-Northridge Academy
Haylin Hernandez- Northridge Academy
Tiera Jackson- Fulton College Prep
Lara Ledesma- Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences
Allison Orantes- Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences
Milan Riley- East Valley

Per Rivals National Recruiting Director Adam Gorney:

The five-star quarterback is always up for a good surprise – like his out-of-nowhere visit to Sacramento State on Friday with Folsom, Calif., teammate Jameson Powell – but BYU is a real contender in his recruitment for numerous reasons.

USC, Oregon and a surging Michigan are also very involved with Lyons. But both of his parents went to school at BYU, there is a religious consideration there and the five-star quarterback talked highly about BYU last weekend at the Rivals Camp. Lyons hasn’t finalized visit dates to all of his favorites yet but he’s expected back at BYU and that’s clearly huge.

Here's reaction from the Rivals' Kentucky staff:

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FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

FINALS
At Southwest College

DIVISION III
#8 Sylmar vs. #2 Harbor Teacher, 3:30 p.m.

DIVISION II
#2 San Fernando vs. #1 Banning, 5:30 p.m.

At Hawkins

DIVISION IV
#2 Northridge Academy at #1 Hawkins, 7 p.m.

At RFK Community

DIVISION V
#20 WISH Academy vs. RFK Community, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
At Pasadena City College

DIVISION I
#3 Washington Prep vs. #1 Verdugo Hills, 2 p.m.

OPEN DIVISION
#3 Westchester vs. #1 Hamilton, 6 p.m.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONALS

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

OPEN DIVISION

FIRST ROUND
#1 Ontario Christian, bye
#4 Sierra Canyon 71, #5 Mission Hills 26
#3 Santa Ana Mater Dei 76, #6 Bishop Montgomery 40
#2 Etiwanda, bye

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION I
#9 Harvard-Westlake at #1 Fairmont Prep
#5 Rancho Christian at #4 Windward
#14 Westview at #8 Brentwood
#7 Moreno Valley at #2 Sage Hill

DIVISION II
#14 Palos Verdes at #1 Monache
#5 Portola at #4 El Capitan
#6 Arroyo Grande at #3 San Diego Cathedral
#15 Mark Keppel at #7 Rancho Bernardo

DIVISION III
#8 El Cajon Christian vs. #1 Palisades, 5:30 p.m. at Birmingham
#5 Chula Vista Mater Dei at #4 Carlsbad
#11 King/Drew at #3 Garfield
#10 Culver City at #2 El Camino Real

DIVISION IV
#8 Tesoro at #1 Cantwell-Sacred Heart
#5 Gahr at #4 Verdugo Hills
#6 Santa Ynez at #3 Granada Hills
#10 Chatsworth at #2 Cerritos Whitney

DIVISION V
#8 St. Pius X-St. Matthias at #1 La Palma Kennedy
#12 Gabrielino at #4 Rosamond
#11 Crawford at #3 Hillcrest
#7 Santa Ana at #2 University Prep Value

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

OPEN DIVISION

SEMIFINALS
#4 Sierra Canyon at #1 Ontario Christian
#3 Santa Ana Mater Dei at #2 Etiwanda

Note:
Semifinals in all divisions are Sat., March 8 at higher seeds;
Finals are Tues., March 11 at higher seeds.