It took three tries, but the Montgomery High School boys basketball team finally reached the San Diego Section’s promised land after the top-seeded Aztecs topped the second-seeded Carlsbad Lancers, 53-45, to win this year’s Open Division championship title last Friday at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside.
Montgomery head coach Ed Martin was beaming afterward, noting that “hopefully, the third time would be the charm.”
It was.
The Open Division title — and vindication as one of the section’s elite teams —was three years in the making after Montgomery came up short by scores of 85-53 to St. Augustine in the 2023 final and 56-47 to Carlsbad last year.
The Open Division gathers together the section’s top eight teams. The winner from the group stands as the best of the best when the final ball drops through the hoop.
The Metro-Mesa League champion Aztecs can finally live up to that label, attested by their 30-2 record.
But it was no easy task.
Montgomery opened the game with a 12-9 scoring edge in the first quarter, but the Aztec lead was reduced to one point — 20-19 — by halftime and evaporated altogether as the Lancers (25-6) started the second half with a 12-8 run to take a 31-28 lead on the scoreboard.
Just as the Otay Mesa team was pushed by Mission Bay in the late stages of the semifinal round, Montgomery rose to the occasion with a prodigious 25-14 fourth quarter run to make their statement a lasting one in front of 2,800 roaring fans.
Time would not run out on the Aztecs’ bid to make history.
The emotionally charged win erased two previous years of frustration as the Aztecs accepted the runner-up trophy.
Senior Xair Mendez led the assault with a game-high 22 points while senior Devin Hamilton dropped in 13 points to aid the cause. Senior Alek Sanchez contributed eight points, senior J.J. Sanchez tossed in six points while junior Xavier Guerrero and senior Jayden Cannon contributed two points each.
Mendez also led the team with nine rebounds while J.J. Sanchez had eight boards and Hamilton had seven boards. While limited on the scoreboard, J.J. Sanchez dished out seven assists.
Senior Jake Hall, the second-leading scorer in section history with more than 3,000 points, led Carlsbad with 14 points.
For Martin, it was a moment to personally savor as he was a member of Montgomery’s 1996 CIF championship team.
Southern exposure
The 2024-25 winter sports playoffs were chock full of South County teams once again with seven Metro Conference basketball teams in the CIF finals plus two soccer teams.
In sum, four hoops teams spirited away CIF championships while both soccer teams (Bonita Vista in Open Division girls and Southwest in Division IV girls) pulled up with runner-up finishes.
Basketball champions included Montgomery (Open Division boys), Victory Christian Academy (Division I girls), Olympian (Division II boys) and Otay Ranch (Division II girls). Runner-up teams included Victory Christian (Division I boys), Southwest (Division III boys) and Chula Vista (Division V boys).
Division I
Victory Christian Academy scored a rare championship doubleheader with the fourth-seeded Knights engaging the second-seeded St. Augustine Saints in the opening boys game and the second-seeded Lady Knights paired against the top-seeded Rancho Buena Vista Lady Longhorns in the girls nightcap.
The Knights held an early modest lead before the Saints began employing a smothering defense under the basket, forcing lower-percentage perimeter shots and turnovers. St. Augustine began building a growing lead — 27-16 — before Victory Christian was able to contend with the situation and reduce the deficit to 29-22 at halftime.
The Knights (18-14) went on a 10-0 run to narrow the Saints lead to four points, 39-35, with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter. But it didn’t last long as the Saints (18-14) manufactured a 10-2 run to regain momentum en route to claiming the school’s ninth CIF basketball title.
Junior Lincoln Grogan tallied 16 points while junior Jaden Bailes nailed 15 points and eight junior rebounds. Sophomore Pai Polamalu (a hero in the school’s Division III football championship) chipped in with 14 points while senior Manny Cortez had eight points and 13 boards.
Senior Angel Ochoa was Victory’s top scorer with 23 points.
The Knights, who took down top-seeded La Jolla Country Day by a 59-54 score in the semifinals, battled to the end while down by as much as 19 points late in the game.
“It was definitely an accomplishment getting to the Division I championship game, but the loss doesn’t take away from any of our accomplishments all season,” VCA head coach Will Gray said.
Sportsmanship award winners included St Augustine’s Cortez and Victory’s Elijah Bragg.
On the flip side, the VCA girls stormed out to a 15-5 first quarter lead and never really looked back after extending that advantage to 22-7 midway through the second quarter. The Lady Knights led 30-21 at halftime and 41-30 through three quarters before settling for the 11-point victory.
“We had been up by 15-16 points a couple times but couldn’t get it to 20 points,” VCA head coach Robert Luna said. “If a team can stay within 20 points they feel they still have a chance. I’d like for us to get that killer instinct next year.”
The Division I championship adds to previous CIF titles at the Division V and Division IV levels.
“We wanted to speed them up, make them make mistakes” Luna said of his team’s championship game strategy. “Once we got into the second half, we wanted to contain their No. 5 (senior Camille Drake) as much as possible. We had to make her work. We couldn’t have her running all around and shooting the ball.”
Drake finished with 20 points. Everyone else in the RBV lineup was held to single-digit scoring.
By contrast, three VCA players scored in double figures: sophomore Shawnelle Sanders (14 points) and freshmen Marisol Gomez (12 points) and Valentina Lopez (10 points).
Junior Mai’ana Norita dropped in nine points while senior Sophia Abella had seven points.
Norita logged eight rebounds, five assists and five steals while Gomez had six rebounds and Lopez had four assists.
Division II
Olympian (26-6) added to last year’s Division III championship with Saturday’s 54-46 win over second-seeded Mira Mesa (26-6) in the Division II final.
“We are a small team with a big heart,” OHS coach Marty Ellis said. “We have a young class of 2026 guys who are playmakers trying to make playmaker plays. Our kids work every day and they don’t cheat the system.
“One ff the main goals we preached this year was communicating with each other. We lacked that all season long. But on Saturday we communicated very well and you see the results: It got the CIF San Diego Division II title. The main guys such as J.J. Walker, D.J. Humphries, Xaiver King and Tristan Anderson, along with a great supporting cast, all came ready to compete.”
Olympian out-scored Mira Mesa in each of the opening three quarters in building a 43-30 lead and held off the Marauders in the fourth quarter while being outscored by five points.
Walker keyed the Eagles with 19 points while Humphries tacked on 17 points and King dropped in 10 points. Anderson, who was held to three points, contributed two rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The third-seeded Otay Ranch girls’ 45-29 victory over top-seeded Bishop’s handed the school its first section basketball title in either gender field.
Senior Maleah Porch and freshman Elisa Cruz poured in 13 and 12 points, respectively, to pace the Lady Mustangs’ upset win.
Otay Ranch (26-5) made 38 rebounds in the win, including nine by junior Anaya Carter and seven each by freshman Serenity Salmond and senior Mackenzie Daffron.
“The game was very intense from the beginning,” Otay Ranch coach Rene Barrera said. “Our shots weren’t going in as normal. But our defensive press kept us in the game — our team is based on defense and press.”
While the first half belonged to the Lady Knights (19-12) with a 21-16 lead, the Lady Mustangs completely turned the tables around in the second half.
“The players were very confident coming in the second half,” Barrera said. “Our offense was better in the second half, our shots started to go in and we made some layups. We kept the defensive pressure on them.
“Elisa and Maleah started to make shots, and then our defense just took over the second half.”
Bishop’s only scored eight points in the second half.
“This was an entire team effort,” Barrera said. “Our expectations were to be competitive every game and be at the top four teams of Division II. We wanted to finish strong for the playoffs.”
Division III
Southwest (25-7) saw its season end for the second consecutive year with the runner-up CIF trophy following a 47-44 loss to third-seeded Maranatha Christian Saturday at Otay Ranch High School.
“As seen by our record, we had a very good year, benefiting from having experienced returners, including six seniors who helped us win many games,” Southwest coach Steve Selland said. “Our goal was to get back to the CIF championship game, so we did achieve that goal. However, we did not win it, so that became a very disappointing day for the team. We lost, but it was not because of a lack of effort or focus, we had the lead after the first quarter (13-12) and were down by one at halftime (23-22), so it was a close game throughout.
“Then, in the second half, they got ahead of us by eight or so, but true to character, we fought back and took a lead of 42-40 with two minutes remaining. Unfortunately for us, we allowed an open three-pointer and were never able to reclaim the lead. As for the season, the team accomplished so much, they will be remembered as one of our best.“
Junior scorer leader Noah Soltero led the Raiders with 16 points while senior Brandon Borja had 14 points in the loss.
Other players of note who had outstanding seasons, according to the Raider coach, were seniors Khalid Deiranieh and Shaun Verdida and junior River Diaz.
“We were a team that played together, and one never knew who would be leading us in each game, but one or more of these guys always seemed to come through,” Selland said. “They will be missed.”
SAN DIEGO SECTION BOYS BASKETBALL
Open Division: (1) Montgomery 53, (2) Carlsbad 45
Division I: (2) St. Augustine 59, (4) Victory Christian Academy 42
Division II: (1) Olympian 54, (2) Mira Mesa 46
Division III: (3) Maranatha Christian 47, (1) Southwest 44
Division IV: (1) Tri-City Christian 53, (6) Del Lago Academy 49
Division V: (1.) Pacific Ridge 46, (3) Chula Vista 38
Southern California Regional Playoffs
Boys basketball
Open Division: (3) Notre Dame Sherman Oaks 76. (6) Montgomery 56
Division II: (4) Santa Fe Christian 55, (13) Victory Christian Academy 50
Division III: (14) George Washington Prep 46, (3) Olympian 45
Division IV: (9) Ramona 64, (8) Southwest 62
Girls basketball
Division II: (5) Portola 62, (12) Victory Christian Academy 46
Division III: (5) Mater Dei Catholic 66, (12) Liberty 40
Division III: (11) King/Drew 46, (6) Otay Ranch 44
GIRLS SOCCER
Division I: (1) Santa Margarita 3, (8) Bonita Vista 0
