All five local Catholic boys’ and girls’ high school basketball teams represented at the California Interscholastic Federation state finals March 28-29 in Sacramento took home state championships, with Chaminade of West Hills winning boys’ and girls’ titles.
Also earning titles at Sleep Train Arena were St. John Bosco of Bellflower (Division 2 boys), Bishop Montgomery of Torrance (Division 4 boys) and Mater Dei of Santa Ana (Open Division boys).
Chaminade’s girls team — the only local Catholic school represented in the six divisional contests — ran away from Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, 80-51 in the Division 2 final. The Eagles’ Devin Stanback matched her 27 points scored in the regional final the previous week, adding 10 rebounds. Also playing prominent roles were senior Natalie Valenzuela (15 points, 10 rebounds), sophomore Valerie Higgins (15 points) and senior Kayle Fandino (12 points).
In boys’ Division 3 play, Chaminade outpaced Sir Francis Drake of San Anselmo 71-51, led by junior Michael Oguine (26 points), senior Justin Eisen (15 points) and sophomore Trevor Stanback (12 points, 4 blocked shots, 9 rebounds).
The dual championships are the first in school history for Chaminade, which becomes the first California school to win state championships in football and boys’ and girls’ basketball in the same year.
St. John Bosco won its first state basketball title, outlasting Folsom 63-54 in the Division 2 final. The Braves (23-11 overall to Folsom’s 33-2) were led by its big three of Daniel Hamilton (22 points), Tyler Dorsey (21 points) and Vance Jackson (16 points).
In the Division 4 championship game, Bishop Montgomery (28-6) easily outscored Morneau Catholic of Hayward, 85-44, the largest margin of victory in a state title game, and the Knights’ first state title since back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001. Senior Justin Bibbins had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals; junior Stephen Thompson Jr. posted 20 points, 7 assists and 6 steals; and his brother, freshman Ethan Thompson, scored 14 points.
Mater Dei took the Open Division title, defeating Bishop O’Dowd 71-61, for the Monarchs’ fourth straight state championship and their 11th overall. Stanley Johnson scored 25 points and had 8 assists, and M.J. Cage had 16 points.
