Another week went by in the playoff world, and now, the stamp can be put on the local winter sports high school season. A few teams had made it to the CIF State tournament level this past week, which included teams from local girls’ soccer, and boys’ and girls’ basketball programs.
As already mentioned in this week’s issue, the Temecula Valley girls’ soccer team won 21 straight games to not only clinch their fifth straight Southwestern League title, but they also won their first-ever CIF Southern Section Division 1 title and accomplished the same feat at the CIF State level Saturday, March 5, with a 4-1 win over San Marcos.
The Hemet girls’ soccer team, who reached the CIF Southern Section finals in Division 5 and played a tough Marshall team to a 3-3 draw, but lost on penalty kicks, was not out of it. Despite the loss, their historic season was not over as they earned a bid in the CIF SoCal Division 4 playoffs. The Lady Bulldogs were seeded No. 7 and were not only able to knock off No. 2 seed Sierra Canyon but avenged that CIF Southern Section loss to No. 3 seed Marshall, earning them a spot in the championship game this past Saturday against Saint Joseph.
Hemet’s Bridget Arnold put the Lady Bulldogs up 1-0 in the 19th minute of the final game and sophomore midfielder Tyariz Hernandez added a goal in the 34th minute as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead at Valley Christian High School. St. Joseph didn’t flinch, and the Lady Jesters got back in the match when they scored twice in the second half to force sudden-death overtime.
In the 91st minute, Saint Joseph senior Mia Escandon took the shot for the win and nailed it. The final was a 3-2 comeback victory against Hemet to win the CIF SoCal Regional title.
CIF STATE BOYS/GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
With a loss in the CIF Southern Section finals, the Rancho Verde Mustangs did advance to the CIF State tournament this week, where they faced off in the Division 3 brackets against Grant High School in the opening round. Rancho Verde not only won that game but made it all the way to the semifinal game where they fell to Venice High School, 54-49.
For the girls’ teams, Heritage advanced to CIF State brackets, along with Fallbrook and Cal Lutheran, but each of the three teams only got one game under their belt. Fallbrook fell to Shadow Hills in the Division 3 brackets, Heritage was defeated by No. 6 Imperial, 50-21, in the Division 4 brackets and Cal Lutheran was taken down in a heartbreaker to Maywood CES, 32-31, in the opening round of the Division 5 brackets.
CIF STATE WRESTLING UPDATES
With the conclusion of the CIF State wrestling tournament taking place last weekend, two local programs were awarded as top teams from the CIF Southern Section. The Paloma Valley girls’ wrestling team was named the 2022 CIF Southern Section Ford Individual Girls’ Northern Champions and Temecula Valley was named the 2022 CIF Southern Section Ford Individual Boys’ Eastern Champions.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
