2019 in Review: The moments that made my year in high school sports
With the coming of this new year, the calendar turns to a new decade.
This past year would have been my 10-year high school reunion, and while that time in our lives lasts for just four years, it has never fully left.
Covering high school sports has offered the chance to remain in touch with communities. Athletics has a place in personal growth, and it often surprises you in ways in which you could scarcely imagine.
Since the new year comes about in the midst of winter, the first memorable moment comes from the girls’ basketball season.
On Jan. 29, the Huntington Beach High girls’ basketball team won the Surf League title with a 50-21 win over Corona del Mar.
The league championship almost seemed to come secondary to the touching moment at the end. In the Sea Kings’ final game, Malia Halafuka checked into the game with 38 seconds remaining.
A knee injury suffered four months earlier in an AAU tournament had wiped out her senior season, but she got this one opportunity to play with her sister, Nia, a freshman guard, in the same uniform.
The Oilers left their players in the backcourt for the possession, and Nia passed to Malia for an uncontested layup that went in for the final basket of the game.
It showed that the game never has to be over for those who do not want it to end.
Long playoff runs never go out of style. Fountain Valley continued to tighten its grip in terms of area wrestling. The Barons took an eighth straight league title, won the CIF Southern Section Northern Division title, and sent three individuals — Max Wilner, Sean Solis and Zach Parker — to the CIF State wrestling championships.
Upsets often make the postseason. While the Edison boys’ soccer team did not go on to win the Division 1 championship, it managed to take down top-seeded Los Angeles Loyola 2-1 at home.
Kai Peterson’s run down the right sideline and hook slide to center the ball for Sander Booij, leading to the latter’s golden goal in the second overtime, continues to be a fond memory for Chargers fans and players alike.
As much as seeding and rankings tell us where a team should finish, injuries can make playoff success just as unlikely as an upset.
In the spring, an injury-riddled Huntington Beach softball team finished in a tie for third place after going 4-5 in the Surf League. Remarkably, the at-large selection Oilers went further than any team in program history had gone before, advancing to the Division 1 semifinals.
A quality pitcher in softball, especially one that could hit like then junior Grace Uribe, can change a team’s fortunes like few individuals can do in other team sports.
Personal records sometimes trump placement in track and field. One of the more uplifting stories of the year was how the perseverance of Huntington Beach high jumper Jack Wiseman paid off.
In an event in which personal records do not grow on trees, the four-time CIF finalist cleared two lifetime-best bars to win the Masters Meet title with a clearance of six feet 10 inches, advancing to the state meet for the first time in his career.
The Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball team had a chance to chase perfection two seasons in a row. While neither season ended that way, Newport Harbor suffered just three losses in two years — all three to Back Bay rival CdM.
Heartbreak turned to celebration when the Sailors returned to the CIF finals and the Southern California Division I Regional championship match, winning both versus Manhattan Beach Mira Costa.
Local volleyball has done well. Two area teams — Laguna Beach and Pacifica Christian Orange County — advanced to the CIF finals in girls’ volleyball in 2018, but the past year saw programs that had struggled take a step forward.
Fountain Valley, making just its third playoff appearance in the last 15 seasons, advanced to the Division 3 quarterfinals, the furthest of any local girls’ volleyball team.
Marina also snapped a 69-match losing streak in league play when it completed a backdoor sweep of Newport Harbor at home in a Wave League match.
In cross-country, Costa Mesa’s Diane Molina showed that some having staying power at the top, earning her second fifth-place finish in the Division IV state final.
Potential new stars unveiled themselves, too. Ocean View’s Diego Gonzalez, who qualified for the state meet in Division IV as an individual in his first season of running as a sophomore, was one of them.
Finally, this most recent football season went the distance, with CdM accomplishing the mythical 16-0 season by beating Simi Valley Grace Brethren in the Division 3 final and San Mateo Serra in the Division 1-A state championship bowl game.
Washington-bound quarterback Ethan Garbers and Stanford-committed wide receiver John Humphreys enjoyed record-setting seasons. Garbers broke the section’s single-season passing touchdown record with 71, while Humphreys tied Western’s Caine Savage for the Orange County single-season record in receiving touchdowns with 32.
Marina won its first CIF title with an 18-9 win over Pasadena Muir. Along the way, the Vikings won the Big 4 League championship, their first league title since 1986.
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