The Chula Vista High School boys basketball team appears to be riding a wave of renewed optimism — and enthusiasm — heading into the final stages of the 2024-25 season.
The Spartans carried a 20-6 overall record into Thursday’s regular season finale against the visiting Castle Park Trojans. Chula Vista needed a victory to keep pace with westside rival Sweetwater for the lead in the Metro-Pacific League standings. Both teams were 4-1 in league play.
The Red Devils were scheduled to close out regular season play by hosting Hilltop on Thursday.
Both Castle Park (8-16 overall) and Hilltop (9-16 overall) carried 1-4 league records into those key games.
Sweetwater (14-13 overall) defeated host Chula Vista, 67-63, on Jan. 31 while the Spartans topped the Devils, 58-56, in National City on Tuesday.
The battle for the league banner appeared too close to call.
Chula Vista topped Hilltop, 68-41, last Friday in a game that was close through the first half with the Spartans leading 33-26. At one point a rejuvenated host Lancer team narrowed the difference between the teams to just two points.
The Spartans, ranked third among the section’s Division V teams, regained control of the game with a 20-9 run in the third quarter.
Seniors Elijah Gillespie and Giovanni Contreras each dropped in 22 points to pace Chula Vista while sophomore Gabriel Ruz added 14 points. Sophomores Adrian Alvarez (12 points) and Ami Blea (10 points) both scored in double figures for Hilltop, ranked 15th out of 20 teams in the division.
Both teams are having amazing seasons. The Spartans, who finished 9-18 in 2023-24, have not had a winning season since 2003 while the Lancers finished 1-25 last year.
“I’ve been with the program four years, this is my second varsity season after starting with the freshmen and junior varsity programs,” CVHS head coach Deondric Cunningham said. “It’s been a four-year process. Our season goal was to be competitive. We’re still in contention for the league banner.
“We play very fast-paced, run a press. Our goals for the playoffs are the same as the regular season. I feel if we play at our best, we could go far.”
Contreras entered Thursday’s regular season finale with a team-leading 21.1 scoring average per game (top five in the section) while Gillespie was averaging 14.2 points per game.
Junior Roman Miramontes keyed Hilltop with a 10.2 scoring average. He also paced the Lancers with 7.7 rebounds per game.
“I didn’t have expectations other than to compete and play hard,” Hilltop coach Jim Alvarez said. “I wanted to bring in a new culture. I kept our three seniors (Sebastian Badilla, Zeke Martinez and Antonio Martinez) with an influx of sophomores and juniors.”
Alvarez was an assistant at Eastlake for 15 years under Alex Estrada, so he’s aware of what it takes to compete near the top.
“It took about half the season to start showing results and now that the kids appreciate it, they want to be pushed.”
Twelve teams in the division qualify for the playoffs. The Lancers remain on the bubble, which is a major turnaround from last season.
Contreras logged 24 points in Tuesday’s win at Sweetwater while Gillespie and Ruz tallied 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Hilltop junior Isaac Verdugo dropped in 13 points while sophomore Adrian Alvarez had 12 points in Tuesday’s 43-42 win at Castle Park.
Senior Night
The Spartans honored their four seniors in Thursday’s regular season final against the crosstown rival Trojans: Contreras, Gillespie, Daniel Orta and Ricardo Ramirez.
Orta wore the chain after the game by scoring 22 points in a 53-46 win that cemented a league co-championship with Sweetwater (59-30 winners over visiting Hilltop).
It looked to be a big night for the hosts after bolting out to an early 7-0 lead on the scoreboard. Chula Vista led 24-12 at the end of the first quarter. But like its game at Hilltop a week earlier, the Spartans sagged in the second quarter as the pesky Trojans rallied with an 11-4 run to narrow the deficit to 28-23.
There was more drama to come. Castle Park narrowed the score further to 40-36 on a free throw early in the fourth quarter. The Trojans made it 40-38 on a bank-in shot with 5:12 to play in regulation.
Gillespie came to the rescue with a pair of foul shots to allow the Spartans to move in front 42-38. But that four-point lead quickly evaporated on a three-point bomb and foul shot.
42-42.
Suddenly, the hosts’ bid for a share of the Metro-Pacific League title appeared in dire jeopardy.
A lay-up by Gillespie snapped the scoreboard deadlock to push the Spartans ahead 44-42. Orta then completed a three-point play with a drop-in shot to expand the lead to 47-42.
Castle Park made it a 47-44 contest as the game approached the final minute. Gillespie scored on a hook shot to raise the CV lead to 49-44 and raise the Spartans’ expectations for the league co-championship.
A well-time trey by Orta seemed to seal the deal as the hosts went in front 52-44. Castle Park made a last gasp effort with a deuce to trim the score to 52-46 with 16.2 seconds to play. Contreras scored the game’s final point on a free throw in the dying moments.
Gillespie finished the game with 17 points as Chula Vista’s second-leading scorer while Contreras had six points. Ramirez had four points while junior Joshua Lee and sophomore Jaylan Clark each chipped in with two points.
The win left the Spartan head coach dancing on the court.
“It was really tough because it was a playoff game,” Contreras said. “We just had to battle and play together as a team.”
Both Chula Vista (21-6) and Sweetwater (15-13) finished 5-1 in their six league games. The Red Devils were dominant through the opening three quarters, leading 18-7 after the first quarter and 36-17 at halftime. The hosts extended their lead to 49-19 after out-scoring the Lancers 13-2 in the third quarter.
Sophomore Bryson Grant led Hilltop with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Both the Lancers (9-17) and Trojans (8-17) finished 1-5 in league play.
Bonita Vista (20-8) raced to its ninth consecutive win by topping visiting Otay Ranch, 61-42 on Thursday to conclude Metro-South Bay League play with a spotless 8-0 league record. The Barons finished the regular season with three consecutive home court wins: San Ysidro (86-45 on Feb. 7(, Mar Vista (99-42 on Wednesday) and Otay Ranch.
Ten players scored points for Bonita Vista in the win over Mar Vista. Freshman Brandon Rosales keyed the Barons’ biggest offensive output of the season with 23 points while senior Aaron Owen dropped in 16 points. Sophomore Jerry Stokes collected 15 points while junior Oshen Pena was the fourth BV player to score in double figures with 12 points. Junior Josh Hansen led the hosts with 11 rebounds while junior Giovanni De Lone chalked up five steals.
Southwest (22-6) clinched second place in the Metro-South Bay League standings with a 72-44 win at San Ysidro on Thursday to finish 6-2 in league play, with both losses to Bonita Vista.
Junior River Diaz led the Raiders with 22 points while junior Noah Soltero and senior Khalid Deiranieh each collected 12 points.
Mar Vista (11-14) and Otay Ranch (9-19) both finished 3-5 in league play while San Ysidro (2-25) finished 0-8 in league.
Metro-Mesa League Standings
League/Overall
Montgomery 7-1, 26-2
Olympian 6-2, 21-6
Victory Christian Academy 5-3, 15-13
Eastlake 2-6, 10-16
Mater Dei Catholic 0-8, 7-19
