Boys soccer, boys basketball, boys wrestling and girls water polo advanced to playoffs this season, with two of the four teams bringing home the league championship title.
After the disbandment of the Freeway League on Jan. 20, 2024, Sunny Hills joined the newly formed Century Conference in the 2024-2025 school year, along with 14 other high schools.
With the new leagues, the winter SH sports teams adjusted to new changes and new competitors.
After seven consecutive wins during its season, the SH boys soccer team reached the CIF-SS quarterfinal round, but they lost 5-2 to Montclair High School (6-1-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The Lancers ended the season with an overall record of 5-0-3.
“It was a bummer because I thought we had a chance to win it all, and I thought we had good leadership and good soccer players from the back to the front,” said boys soccer head coach Jordan Brinkley, whose Lancers got knocked out in the first round in the previous season.
Brinkley said he will take this chance to motivate the team to aim higher next season.
“We’re resting and recovering right now, but once we start training in spring and once we start our summer program, that will lay the foundation for the upcoming season to be able to compete,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll win the league title and CIF title [next year].”
In the final game against Montclair, the team had momentum in the beginning, with a score of 2-0, but they gave up a goal with a minute left of the first half and were tied 2-2 at halftime.
The team then missed a penalty kick during the first 5-10 minutes of the second half and stayed 2-2 until the Lancers gave up a goal from a corner kick with eight minutes left in the game, the head coach said.
Co-team captain midfielder senior Ethan Castro said, despite the disappointing loss, he expects the team to learn from this and make a deeper run in the CIF playoffs next season, even though he would have graduated by then.
“I felt disappointed because we blew a 2-0 lead, and we should’ve won that game,” Castro said. “But I definitely think the loss will motivate the team to work harder to try and win CIF next year.”
OTHER WINTER SPORTS RESULTS
The boys basketball team took home the league championship title, defeating Esperanza High School (18-10) from Anaheim, 38-37, in the last league game before the CIF playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
This was the first time the Lancers won the league title since 2012.
Despite such success, the Lancers were unable to carry that momentum with them as they got knocked out of the first round of CIF playoffs, losing 56-48 on Wednesday, Feb. 12, to Linfield Christian High School, a private institution in Temecula.
“This was a great end to our season in terms of coming up with this league championship,” boys basketball head coach Joe Ok said. “This year, with all of the new leagues and our new conference, I think it was a great opportunity for us, and our guys did what we were supposed to do and accomplished our goal.”
Ok said the championship title for the inaugural North Hills League is a memorable moment for him.
“Being the champion in any sport is a great honor, and it’s great for us, since winning the league championship in boys basketball is very difficult,” he said.
Guard senior Raeden Bobadilla agreed with his coach.
“It’s our first [league championship] in about 12 years, so it’s a blessing to be a part of this team,” Bobadilla said. “We have a lot of young guys coming up, so I think they’re all ready to showcase their basketball abilities and are very eager to compete at the next level.”
Boys wrestling also saw a similar feat to what boys basketball accomplished.
Despite losing in the first round of CIF 39-33 to Burbank High School (5-4), the boys wrestling team won the North Hills League championship title for the first time since 2007.
“As a coaching staff, we were telling them to embrace the moment and to not be afraid,” head coach Matthew Acosta said. “They deserved to be there, and they’re league champs. That was a night that the seniors will never forget.”
One streak that ended during the winter season involved the girls water polo squad. After dominating the Freeway League for the past seven seasons and remaining undefeated with an 8-0 winning streak, the Lady Lancers lost 7-4 to San Clemente High School (22-10) on Thursday, Feb. 6, and ended the season in second place.
The girls (24-8) then advanced as far as the first round of CIF, losing 11-8 to Laguna Beach (20-12), leaving them with a league record of 3-1.
“I felt we all played our best,” set defender junior Lauren Jacobsen said. “It was a tight game the whole time, and we ended up advancing to the finals in a close game against Laguna Beach. They were a very respectable team and to think we were competitive with a team that was in Division 1 finals is amazing.”
