League Titles, Deep Playoff Runs, and a State Crown: A Year to Remember for Local Schools

May 29, 2025

The only thing missing from the 2024-2025 school year was one of the area teams advancing to a CIF-Southern Section divisional championship game, or match from the recently completed spring season. Some teams came close, but in any event, it was another successful 10 months with the eight area schools. Here’s a recap of the top highlights from each school in each season.

FALL

For the fifth straight season, the Cerritos High football team claimed the 605 League title and won eight games. But the Dons were knocked out of the Division 9 first round playoffs by Highland High 21-17 on the road.

After beginning the season with five straight wins, second place Artesia High (9-3) went one round farther than Cerritos before falling to Gahr High 34-7 in the Division 13 quarterfinals. And that leads to the Gladiators, who lost their first two games of the season, and were 2-3 heading into their bye week. Gahr would then finish in third place in the Mid-Cities League and head into the playoffs at 5-5. There, the blue and gold slammed La Puente High 41-14, Artesia 34-7 and Anaheim High 28-12 before coming up short against Pasadena High 21-17 in the finals, capping off an 8-6 record.

John Glenn High struggled on and off the field just trying to find enough healthy players to even have a game week to week. After an opening season victory over Bassett High, 12-8, the Eagles lost eight straight games and had their yearly Mayor’s Cup game with Norwalk High cancelled. Glenn would score 38 points in four of those eight losses and did not face Pioneer High in the last game of the season due to dwindling numbers.

La Mirada High’s bid for third place in the Gateway League and an automatic berth in the playoffs came up short against Warren High, 38-35, in Week 10 after trailing the Bears by 10 points at the half. The Matadores concluded the season at 3-7.

Norwalk went 8-3 and came in second place in the Mid-Cities League before getting upset by St. Genevieve High 34-27 at home in the first round of the Division 9 playoffs. The Lancers continued to do what they do the best, which is score at will as they put together 440 points.

Valley Christian High seemed to be heading towards the playoffs after winning its first six games. But the Defenders found the Olympic League tougher than the non-league slate finishing in fourth place and not getting a berth despite a 7-3 campaign.

While this was the fourth season the divisions for football were based off rankings from CalPreps.com, it was year number one that computer rankings would determine what divisions everyone would be placed in for the other fall, winter and spring sports. In girls volleyball, the big story was the Whitney High (22-8) girls volleyball team snapping the six-year dominance of Cerritos, sweeping the season series against the Dons to win the program’s first league title since 2000. The Wildcats would win 22 matches but were swept in the first round of the playoffs. Cerritos (18-12), Glenn (13-12), Norwalk (14-15) and Valley Christian (21-6) also reached the playoffs, but none made it to the quarterfinals.

Girls flag football continued to grow with Artesia, Glenn and Norwalk joining the party for the first time with Artesia advancing to the quarterfinals and Gahr the second round.

In girls tennis, Cerritos (Division 6) and Whitney (Division 2) got to the quarterfinals while Gahr (Division 5) and Valley Christian (Division 3) were eliminated in the first round.

WINTER

This was one of the best winter seasons this immediate area has seen in quite some time. highlighted by the Whitney girls basketball team. The Wildcats (28-9) nearly made it a complete season with their bucket list. They won the 605 League with a 9-1 mark, advanced to the Division 3A semifinals, avenged the semifinal loss to Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High with a 47-42 win in the Southern California Division IV finals, then brought home the big prize with a 48-40 win over Half Moon Bay High in the Division IV state finals.

Two other girls basketball teams also played on one of the biggest stages as Cerritos (17-17) fell to Mark Keppel High 49-39 in the Division 3AA finals while the divisional championship debut for La Mirada (20-12), which captured the Mid-Cities League resulted in a 55-40 loss to Pilibos High.

While not playing for a Division 3A title, Gahr (20-12) lost to El Toro High 36-34 in the semifinals, then fell to Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary 43-40 in the Southern California Division IV semifinals.

In boys basketball, Gateway League champion La Mirada had one of the program’s finest seasons, going 24-4 in the regular season with half those losses coming to St. John Bosco High. The Matadores made their debut in the Open Division playoffs where they lost three of four games.

Other playoff teams were Artesia (21-8), the 605 League champion, which lost to Villa Park High 47-36 in the Division 2A second round, Cerritos, which bounced back from a slow start (0-4) to end the season at 13-15 after a 66-59 Division 3AA first round loss to El Toro, Gahr, (13-15) which finished in third place in the Gateway League but lost to Ayala High 61-50 in the first round of the 3AA playoffs and Whitney (13-16), the third place team from the 605 League, which was bounced out the Division 3A playoffs by Providence High, 64-41.

The top story from girls soccer came from La Mirada, which finished in third place in the Gateway League, but advanced to the Division 4 finals where it fell to Sage Hill High 1-0 (4-3 in penalty kicks). One week later, the Matadores (16-9-3) claimed the Southern California Division 4 title with a 1-0 revenge win over Sage Hill.

Other playoff teams were 605 League champion Artesia (17-3-3), which advanced to the Division 4 second round, Cerritos (9-13-0), which lost in the Division 5 first round, Gahr (9-9-2), the second place representative from the Mid-Cities League which was one and done in Division 6, Norwalk (12-9-2), which finished right behind Gahr and went to the second round of the Division 7 playoffs, and V.C. (10-9-2), which won another Olympic League crown but lost in the first round in Division 5 action.

With the boys, the surprise team around the area was Glenn, a fourth place team from the 605 League, advancing all the way to the program’s first divisional finals. There, the Eagles (15-10-2) lost to Pasadena Poly 3-0 in the Division 7 title game.

Artesia won another 605 League crown but lost to Valley View High 3-2 in overtime in the Division 2 quarterfinals to finish the season at 18-3-4. Behind Artesia was Cerritos (10-5-3), which lost to Montebello High 3-1 in a Division 5 first round game.

Gahr (17-4-1) won the Mid-Cities League but was ousted by Torrance High 1-0 in the second round of Division 3 while second place Norwalk (12-5-3) went to the Division 5 quarterfinals where the Lancers lost to Los Amigos High 4-3 (5-4 in penalty kicks).

SPRING

No baseball team advanced to the semifinals, but Artesia’s run in Division 7 ended with an 8-2 quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame High (Riverside) 8-2. The Pioneers were 19-9-1.

A rare second place finish for Cerritos (15-14) ended with a 6-4 setback to Marshall High in a Division 6 second round game while Gahr (17-13), the second place team from the Gateway League, was eliminated by Etiwanda High 6-1 in the second round from Division 2. League champion La Mirada High saw its 21-7 season end following a 4-2 quarterfinal defeat to Los Alamitos High.

Surprising Norwalk, which battled back from last year’s poor performance to claim a Division 7 spot, lost to Channel Islands High 8-0 in the quarterfinals. The Lancers finished 17-9 while V.C. (15-11) came in second place in the Olympic League but lost to Woodbridge High 4-1 in a Division 4 first round game.

One area softball team advanced to the semifinals where 605 League champion Cerritos (17-7) came up short against West Ranch High 9-7 in Division 5 action, while Gateway League champion La Mirada (25-5) was a 9-5 quarterfinal loser to Ayala in a game that went nine innings.

Gahr (13-13-2), which came in second place in the Gateway League, was blanked by JSerra High 5-0 in a Division 2 first round tilt while Norwalk, the second place team from the Mid-Cities League, fell to Adelanto High 11-1 in a Division 6 second round game.

V.C.’s bid for a return trip to the championship game fell short in the Division 3 quarterfinals as the Olympic League champions (17-7-1) were ousted by Yorba Linda High 14-3.

In boys tennis, Gahr came up short in the Division 7 finals as the second place team from the Mid-Cities League lost to Katella High 10-8. Three other area teams advanced to the quarterfinals with 605 League champion Whitney falling to Flintridge Prep 10-8 in Division 2 action, Cerritos, the third place team from the 605 League, succumbed to Thatcher High 11-7 in a Division 5 match and La Mirada, the Gateway League’s third place team, lost to Beverly Hills 12-6 in a Division 6 affair. Also in Division 5, V.C., the fourth place team from the 605 League, was eliminated by Trabuco Hills 16-2 in the first round.

In boys volleyball, league champions Cerritos (Division 6) and V.C. (Division 3) from their respective circuits were swept in the opening round while Whitney (Division 7) and La Mirada (Division 8) were eliminated in the second round and first round, respectively, in four matches.

Finally, in girls beach volleyball, Gahr, the second place representative from the Gateway League, lost to Thousand Oaks High 5-0 in a Division 2 first round match.