The winter sports season has tipped off with play on the basketball court and soccer pitch.
The Bonita Vista boys hoops squad started off December with convincing wins over Christian (60-45 on Dec. 4) and Eastlake (62-39 on Dec. 5). The Barons tipped off the season with a 76-51 win against visiting La Jolla on Nov. 15 as part of a 3-2 overall start.
“Our goal last year was to win league and win CIF,” BVHS head coach Steven Dean Curry said. “We won league and we could have won CIF (63-61 loss to Madison in the Division II quarterfinals). This year we have the same goals. We’ve had last year’s seniors working with this year’s team all through the off-season, and they’ve worked hard to improve. We have a lot of skilled players who believe they can do it.”
The Barons captured last year’s Metro-South Bay League title with an 8-0 record before finishing the season 21-9 overall. Bonita Vista returns to the Metro-Mesa League lineup this season alongside Victory Christian Academy, Montgomery, Olympian and Montgomery.
It’s a tough draw with Montgomery reigning as the defending Open Division section champion following a prodigious 29-3 record, Olympian coming in as the defending Division II champion and Victory Christian Academy coming in as the Division I runner-up. Montgomery, Olympian and Victory Christian all qualified for the state playoffs.
“We feel we can compete with these teams,” Curry said.
Bonita Vista snapped an early 12-12 first quarter standoff with visiting Christian to slip ahead 27-25 at halftime but surged ahead with a 33-20 scoring edge in the second half to win going away.
Junior Jerry Stokes (Division I high jump champion) keyed the Barons with 22 points while senior Josh Hansen dropped in 15 points. Senior Sam Mitchell had 10 rebounds while Hansen collected eight boards.
Photos by Phillip Brents
Christian at Bonita Vista, Dec. 4
The hosts pulled away from last year’s City Eastern League co-champions with heavy hitting from long range. Bonita Vista sank six three-pointers in the contest, including three by Stokes.
Stokes (14 points), Mitchell (13 points) and Hansen (12 points) all scored in double figures against Eastlake. Mitchell had 12 rebounds.
Stokes entered Wednesday’s home game against Del Norte leading the team with a prodigious 19.0 scoring average, followed by Mitchell with 10.4 ppg, Hansen (8.8 ppg) and sophomore Sawyer Rhoades (6.8 ppg). Rebounding leaders included Mitchell (7.6 rpg) and Hansen (6.2 rpg).
Rhoades is averaging 3.6 assists per game while Hansen is averaging 2.4 steals per game.
The Metro-South Bay League lineup includes Mater Dei Catholic, Eastlake, Southwest and Otay Ranch. Southwest finished as the league runner-up to Bonita Vista last season, meaning a new South Bay League champion will be crowned in 2025-26. Who will it be?
Southwest posted a strong postseason run last year with a runner-up finish in the Division III section finals.
The Metro-Pacific League lineup includes the remaining six Metro Conference teams: Sweetwater, Mar Vista, Castle Park, San Ysidro, Hilltop and Chula Vista.
Chula Vista shared the Pacific League banner with Sweetwater last year and ended its season as the runner-up squad in the Division V section championship game.
Prep Scoreboard
Boys Basketball
Montgomery 70, Patrick Henry 60
Mater Dei Catholic 59, Lincoln 57
Chula Vista 42, Bayfront Charter 34
Sweetwater 72, High Tech Mesa 52
Girls basketball
Hilltop 55, Sweetwater 15
Hilltop 65, Mt. Miguel 45
Hilltop 54, Mar Vista 23
Hilltop 65, Ramona 33
Bonita Vista 63, Chula Vista 15
Bonita Vista 61, Steele Canyon 34
Montgomery 41, Olympian 38
Montgomery 51, Carlsbad 26
Montgomery 46, Helix 44
Girls soccer:
Hilltop received goals from Kiana Navarrete and Aixana Espinosa to go with a shutout by goalkeeper Elyse Guerra in Tuesday’s 2-0 non-league win over visiting Chula Vista to even its record at 1-1 following a 1-0 loss at Scripps Ranch on Dec. 4.
This is the 19th season for head coach Rene Ortiz at Hilltop. “We have a large roster this year. We’re excited. We have a lot of girls who have played soccer outside of high school, very excited for the start of the season. We’ll see what happens.”
Lady Eagles soaring to kick off season
Olympian has opened the season with a 2-0-1 record that includes a 6-0 win over Southwest on Sec. 2, a 1-0 win over Montgomery on Dec. 4 and a 1-1 draw against Francis Parker on Dec. 9. Statistical leaders for the Lady Eagles include sophomore Anaya Davis with two goals and one assist and six other players with at least one goal: junior Destiny Hoffman, sophomore Valentina Escobedo, freshman Valery Hoffman, junior Camila Close, junior Sara Golden and sophomore Taliyah Bolden.
Senior Chloe Diaz has recorded two goalkeeper shutouts.
Photos by Jon Bigornia
Montgomery at Olympian, Dec. 4
