The public schools were knocked out of the quarterfinals on Tuesday night, but the private schools advanced to the semifinals in their divisions on Friday.
Division 1
6 Valencia (24-6): 76
3 Damien (24-7): 84
The Vikings held a 76-75 lead with just over two minutes to play in regulation, but went cold down the stretch, failing to score another point as the Damien Spartans were able to knock down their free throws in the final minute and come away in a close battle of top ten teams in D1.
Jake Hylwiak scored a team-high 22 points (six 3 pointers) and Foothill League MVP Noah Veluzat added 19 points to go along with six assists and eight rebounds.
Valencia finishes the season as the two-time defendind Foothill League champion, with Hlywiak joining Veluzat as a first team All-League selection. Junior Camacho and Kevin Konrad received second team selections.
Division 2AA
9 Fairmont Prep (21-9): 44
1 Santa Clarita Christian (22-5): 60
The newly minted power of Santa Clarita, SCCS advances to it’s third straight CIF SS semifinal and they’ve done it with ease. The Cardinals’ average margin of victory in the playoffs is 17.6 points per game.
Caden Starr and Kaleb Lowery each had 17 points in the win (Lowery picked up a double double with 10 boards), and Ty Harper added 16 points.
Up next for No. 1 SCCS is No. 5 Chaminade (26-7) on the road on Friday.
Division 3AA
6 Hillcrest (23-8): 65
Hart (18-13): 58
An excellent playoff run comes to an end for the Indians, the only team to take down league winners Valencia during the regular season.
Hart kept fighting all night long, but didn’t have an answer for Sebastian Mendoza and the Trojans. Mendoza finished with a game-high 28 points, and the next highest scorer for Hillcrest had 11.
Ty Penberthy finished his high school career on a strong note with a team-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists, and senior Ruke Agbabune added 12 points and six boards. Fellow senior point guard Dillon Barrientos’ career ends with ten points.
Division 5A
Rancho Alamitos (15-13): 41
2 Trinity Classical Academy (19-6): 60
The Knights advance to their first CIF Southern Section semifinal since the 2013/14 season and first in Division 5A. All three of the Knights playoff wins have come by 19 or more points.
Peyton Frazier paced Trinity with a game-high 22 points, and Nathan Thomas added 14 points.
Next up for Trinity in the semifinals is Sierra Vista (16-14-1) at home on Friday.
KHTS Sports is your place for the 2019/20 Santa Clarita high school winter sports season and your Santa Clarita Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC.