The Victory Christian High School boys basketball team carried the torch for the Metro Conference into this year’s state regional playoffs. So did the Mater Dei Catholic, VCA and Montgomery girls teams
Alas, none of the four state qualifiers come home with an elite championship this year.
The No. 2 VCA boys squad made history by winning the San Diego Section’s coveted Open Division championship with a 57-54 decision over No. 5 Francis Parker Feb. 28 at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, a game the Metro-Mesa League champs precariously led 27-26 at halftime.
The next stop took the Knights to the opening round of the Division I Southern California regional playoffs as the No. 5 seed.
Victory Christian won a tight 71-65 battle against 12th-seeded Rancho Christian on March 3 while pushing back takeover challenges by the Eagles (22-11) to earn a date in the second round on March 5 against No. 4 seed St. John Bosco.
The Knights ended their season with a 71-58 loss to finish with an otherwise exemplary 28-5 season with an undefeated Metro-Mesa League championship in tow.
St. John Bosco (24-9) remained unbeaten with a 75-71 win over 16th-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei (22-16) in the regional semifinals on March 7 to advance to the regional finals on Tuesday against sixth-seeded Damien (30-7).
The state championship game is Friday, March 13, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“We kept on building, running and pushing, and that wore them out,” VCA’s Troy Tominna said of the win over Rancho Christian.
St. John Bosco was just too much to overcome. The Braves bounded out to a 17-11 first quarter lead. The visitors played even at 14 points in the second quarter to trail by six points, 31-25, at halftime.
St. John Bosco poured it on in the third quarter, however, by doubling up the Knights 20-10 on the scoreboard to extend its lead to 16 points entering the final quarter. The Braves kept their foot on the pedal with a 27-16 scoring edge in the fourth period to win by 27 points.
Three seniors led the Knights in scoring in what proved to be their final game of the season: Jayden Gray (17 points), D.J. Humphries (12 points) and Isaiah Owens (11 points). Tominna, a sophomore, tacked on seven points while senior Kaerym Araiza added four points.
VCA sank seven three-point shots in the high-profile contest, including three by Gray.
The Knights collected 16 rebounds — three each by Humphries, Tominna, Gray and senior Chato Garcia.
Tominna led Victory Christian in season scoring with 16.1 points per game, followed by Humphries at 15.2, Gray at 13.4 and Owens at 12.5.
Owens led the team with 6.2 rebounds per game while Humphries was tops with 5.8 assists and 3.2 steals per game.
The Knights sank 171 treys during the season — 59 by Gray and 57 by Tominna.
Nitty gritty
Both the Mater Dei Catholic and VCA girls teams qualified for the state playoffs as Open Division participants.
The Lady Crusaders were upset, 62-54, by the seventh-seeded Grossmont Lady Foothillers while the Lady Knights received the No. 8 seed in the divison and were topped, 58-35, by No. 1 Francis Parker in the opening quarterfinals.
Out of reach for a division title, both MDC and VCA waited for the regionals to start.
The Lady Crusaders hosted No. 10 St. Margaret’s in the opening round but came up short 50-36 on the scoreboard to end their season 23-4 following a 6-0 Metro-Mesa League championship season.
Senior Promise Martin led MDC with 13.3 points per game while junjor La’Vehya Iglehart was next up at 11.6 ppg.
The Metro-Mesa League runner-up Lady Knights (10-17, 4-2 in league) received the No. 11 seed in the regionals and met No. 6 Rosary Academy from Fullerton. The Lady Royals, who would advance to the regional semifinals, won 58-47.
VCA senior Mai’ana Norita poured it on with 21.7 points per game.
Montgomery (16-15) qualified as a Division I semifinalist. The Lady Aztecs were more than competitive in a 45-43 first-round loss to No. 2 El Dorado (23-14) to highlight the Division III bracket.
Seniors Paula Zumstein (17.6 ppg) and Genevieve Whitehead (12.5 ppg) led the team in season scoring.
Photos by Jon Bigornia
South County Basketball Standings
Boys Basketball
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
Victory Christian 6-0 28-5
Olympian 4-2 22-8
Bonita Vista 2-4 19-11
Montgomery 0-6 16-13
Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
Mater Dei Catholic 5-1 15-13
Southwest 4-2 18-11
Otay Ranch 3-3 10-19
Eastlake 0-6 5-23
Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
Mar Vista 10-0 15-14
Sweetwater 8-2 17-11
San Ysidro 4-6 6-20
Hilltop 4-6 16-13
Chula Vista 3-7 9-20
Castle Park 1-9 6-20
Frontier-Patriot League
League/Overall
Liberty Charter 9-1 19-8
High Tech NC 7-3 19-4
San Diego Academy 7-3 15-11
Bayfront Charter 4-6 6-16
SOCal Yeshiva 3-7 8-13
Gompers Prep 0-10 1-19
Frontier-Summit League
League/Overall
Preuss/UCSD 7-1 24-9
High Tech-CV 7-1 18-10
O’Farrell Charter 4-4 8-21
High Tech-Mesa 1-7 2-18
Cambridge School 1-7 7-14
Playoff Qualifiers
Open Division: (2) Victory Christian Academy (champion), (6) Olympian (quarterfinals)
Division I: (5) Bonita Vista (quarterfinals), (9) Montgomery (first round)
Division II: (7) Mater Dei Catholic (first round), (13) Southwest (first round)
Division III: (11) Otay Ranch (first round)
Division IV: (8) High Tech-Chula Vista (quarterfinals), (10) Mar Vista (first round), (11) Sweetwater (first round), (15) Chula Vista (first round)
Division V: (9) Hilltop (first round), (10) Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (first round)
Division V-AA: (4) San Diego Academy (runner-up)
Girls Basketball
Metro-Mesa League
League/Overall
Mater Dei Catholic 6-0 23-4
Victory Christian 4-2 10-17
Otay Ranch 1-5 15-12
Montgomery 1-5 16-15
Metro-South Bay League
League/Overall
Eastlake 7-1 17-13
Hilltop 5-3 19-7
Bonita Vista 5-3 15-10
Olympian 3-5 12-18
Southwest 0-8 9-17
Metro-Pacific League
League/Overall
Chula Vista 8-0 18-10
Mar Vista 4-4 8-14
San Ysidro 4-4 12-16
Castle Park 3-5 15-9
Sweetwater 1-7 1-18
Frontier-Sierra League
League/Overall
Liberty Charter 7-1 19-2
High Tech CV 6-2 7-10
Preuss UCSD 5-3 7-9
Gompers Prep 2-6 2-13
CVLCC 0-8 4-16
Frontier-Patriot League
League/Overall
San Diego Academy 9-1 14-8
High Tech-Mesa 4-6 10-7
High Tech-NC 4-5 6-15
Mountain Empire 3-6 4-17
Ocean View Christian 3-7 7-13
Bayfront Charter 2-8 4-14
Playoff Qualifiers
Open Division: (2) Mater Dei Catholic (quarterfinals), (8) Vcitory Christian Academy (quarterfinals)
Division I: (7) Montgomery (semifinals), (9) Otay Ranch (first round)
Division II: (10) Olympian (quarterfinals), (6) Bonita Vista (first round)
Division III: (8) Eastlake (quarterfinals),
Division IV: (14) Southwest (semifinals), (1) Hilltop (quarterfinals), (7) Chula Vista (quarterfinals)
Division V: (5) Castle Park (quarterfinals), (7) Mar Vista (quarterfinals), (8) High Tech-Chula Vista (first round), (11) San Ysidro (quarterfinals)
Division V-AA: (2) San Diego Academy (runner-up), (7) Ocean View Christian Academy (quarterfinals), (8) Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (quarterfinals)
