They are the champions: Chula Vista High Tech High School (Frontier League girls soccer), Hilltop High School (Mesa League boys and girls soccer), Mater Dei Catholic High School (Mesa League girls basketball) and Otay Ranch High School (Mesa League boys basketball). All will be involved in next week’s San Diego Section playoffs as automatic qualifiers after sewing up league titles earlier this week.
Girls soccer
CV High Tech began its soccer program in 2008-09 and its girls team failed to win a match that inaugural season. Since then, the progression has been upward. The Bruins qualified for the first round of last year’s Division IV playoffs and will return to post-season competition as this year’s Frontier League champion.
CV High Tech defeated Calexico Mission, 15-0, Wednesday to conclude an impressive 14-3-1 campaign, including 9-0-1 in league play. All this has been accomplished while relying on volunteer parent-coaches, no on-campus field and no school-provided transportation to away matches.
The Bruins defeated Calexico Mission, 20-0, in the first leg of the teams’ home-and-home series Feb. 10 in a game played at Olympian High School. Prior to that, CV High Tech shut out Gompers Secondary, 13-0, on Feb. 7.
River Valley (9-6-2 overall) finished second in the league standings with a 7-1-2 record.
The Bruins are led by a talented and dedicated cast that includes defender Kelsey Ramos, midfielders Jamie Mitchell, Natalia Chavira, Laura Martinez and Alexis Gates, and forwards Giselle Roldan and Stefanie Tellez.
Tellez, a sophomore, ranks as one of the section’s top scorers with 23 goals and seven assists while Mitchell (11 goals, 15 assists) and Roldan (13 goals, six assists) also have contributed heavily to the team’s offensive spark.
The team has proven more than simply competitive this season. CV High Tech kicked off the season with victories against Classical Academy (9-0) and Castle Park (3-1) and went 2-1 in the ensuing Barons tournament.
Hilltop, after losing to Eastlake, 2-1, on Tuesday, needed a victory on Wednesday to sew up this year’s Mesa League title. The Lancers came through with a clutch 4-0 win against Mater Dei Catholic to close out league play 8-1-1 in league play and, in the process, improve to 16-3-4 overall.
Hilltop, driven this season by a line-up filled with depth, should collect one of the top seeds in the Division II playoffs. The Lancers entered the week ranked ninth in the section, fourth in the division.
Boys soccer
Despite dropping a 2-1 match to visiting Eastlake on Tuesday, Hilltop secured this year’s Mesa League championship on the strength of two key road wins the previous week, defeating Chula Vista (3-2 on Feb. 8) and Bonita Vista (2-1 on Feb. 10). The Lancers entered their final regular season game on Thursday against Mater Dei Catholic sporting a 6-1-2 league record and 20-3-2 overall record.
The loss to the Titans might jeopardize Hilltop’s No. 20 national ranking, though it appears the Lancers (ranked fifth in the section) will receive one of the top seeds in the upcoming Division II playoffs along with Westview, which is also nationally ranked.
Angel Robles, Joshua Diaz and Abdiel Flores each scored goals against Chula Vista while Diaz and Jimmy Estrada supplied the goals in the victory over Bonita Vista. Diaz notched the dramatic game-winner — his sixth of the season — with three minutes remaining in regulation to snap a 1-1 deadlock. Adrian Zendejas was credited with 11 goalkeeper saves in the match for Hilltop.
HHS coach John Salts referred to the match as one filled with “intense action.” Said Salts: “Both ’keepers came up big for their respective teams, blocking numerous point-blank shots.”
Boys basketball
Alex Perez scored 17 points Tuesday to key Otay Ranch to a 45-39 victory against visiting Eastlake to officially wrap up this year’s Mesa League title. The Mustangs improved to 9-0 in league play, 22-4 overall, while second place Eastlake dropped to 7-2 in league play, 17-7 overall.
Perez has had a hot hand of late, scoring 38 points in a 67-61 non-league victory over San Ysidro in the Coaches for Cancer showcase Feb. 5 and pouring in 33 points in a 64-52 win against Hilltop on Feb. 11. Perez, who is considered by most observers to be the top player in South County prep hoops this season, has averaged 29,5 points per game the last month.
Otay Ranch winds down the season ranked 10th among section teams and fifth among Division I squads.
Girls basketball
Mater Dei Catholic appears to be reloading nicely after graduating virtually its entire starting team since winning the Division IV state title two years ago. The Crusaders remained perfect in Mesa League play by defeating Hilltop, 72-38, on Tuesday. Junior Cardedra Evans paced MDC with 21 points, while freshman Kandiss Barber and sophomore Alexandria Young each contributed 17 points.
Young leads the Crusaders in scoring with 15.6 points per game, followed by sophomore Brittani Lusain (13.8 ppg), Barber (13.4 ppg) and Evans (12.8 ppg). Young also leads the team with 12.3 rebounds per game while Lusain is averaging 9.0 boards per game and Barber 8.3 rebounds per game.
The combination has vaulted the young MDC team to an 18-8 overall record.
Roller hockey
Eastlake senior Jace White, who recently took over the point-scoring lead in the 17-team CIF-Metro Conference, took control of Tuesday’s showdown game against Hilltop by collecting five goals and two assists in the Titans’ 9-5 victory. White, who entered the game with 58 goals and 24 assists, gave Eastlake a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal just 53 seconds into the game. Zach McMahon and Jordan Hines each contributed two goals and one assist while Alex Bule picked up one assist in support of goaltender Darius Newhall (12 saves).
Hilltop challenged early on by tying the game, 1-1, with 5:53 left in the first period on a goal by defenseman Tylor Spracklin and cutting the EHS lead to 4-2 on a goal by team captain Jeremiah Schultz with 9:34 left in the second period. But each time the Titans countered with a goal to break up the Lancers’ momentum. George Godinez trimmed the Eastlake lead to 6-4 early in the third period but the Titans responded with three unanswered goals to surge ahead 9-4. Schultz led Hilltop with three goals and one assist.
Eastlake tipped Otay Ranch, 5-4, on Feb. 10 to break a tie for the league lead. White had a hat trick plus one assist to power the Titans.
