CIF State Basketball D5, D3 roundup: San Marin, Cornerstone boys, Woodland Christian, El Dorado girls triumph

SACRAMENTO — The final horn had sounded, his players celebrated wildly on the floor and 73-year-old coach Chris Lavdiotis, after giving a quick group hug with assistants, walked to the corner of the Golden 1 Center court.

"It was there time to shine," said the second-year coach after his team beat the run-and-gun, high-scoring Sylmar Spartans at their own game with clean, emphatic, impressive 89-64 victory Friday. "It was their moment. I just needed to walk away."

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The Mustangs (22-13), who finished tied for fourth in their league, saved their "A" game for last.

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They decided rather than take the air out of the ball against a team that broke the 100-point barrier six times and 90 points 16 times, San Marin attacked, attacked and attacked the rim some more while scoring a massive 68 points in the paint while winning the school's first state title.

Miller Morgan, a 6-3 senior guard, led the way with 25 points, making 11 of 21 shots, mostly on the break. Sophomore Kellen Dunning made 7 of 10 shots and edded 16 points, Jackson Young, a converted two-way football lineman, contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior point guard Grant Means chipped in 12.

"The pace was to our liking," Lavdiotis said. "We watched a lot of film on them and our feeling was if we could make it chaotic, handle the press and attack the rim. Our guys never let up. (Sylmar) was vulnerable and we could score at will."

From the get-go, the Mustangs did, scoring a season-high 31 points in the first quarter to race to a 31-17 lead.

High school boys basketball — San Marin poses after winning its first CIF State boys basketball title with a D5 championship at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on March 13, 2026 | Courtesy CIF State

But Sylmar coach Bort Escoto was just fine with the pace, even trailing.

When his team started the season 1-5 and 5-9, he decided to scrap his origina plans and have some fun, run and gun and go the the "Loyola-Marymount" method of basketball.

It worked. Just as it did Saturday with a 20-8 run in the second quarter to close to 39-37 by halftime and after a three-pointer Payton Perez to go up 48-43. But then the relentless Mustangs rode the wave of the last six weeks and scored on an avalanche of layups off steals, Sylmar turnovers (24) and precise offense.

They piled up 28 more third-quarter points to take a 65-58 lead into the fourth quarter. Then, despite 27 points by Sylmar's Rob Winn and 14 by Aiden Garcia, the Mustangs went in for the kill and historic championship.

"How 'bout them Mustangs?" Lavdiotis said to start a post-game press conference. "The last six weeks have been a dream and today was a culmination of these guys' dedication, staying focused, staying loose every day and having fun. I cannot be happier for all these guys."

Said 22-year San Marin assistant who helped head coach Craig Pitt to a lot of success, including the school's only North Coast Section title in 2011: "When you've known these kids since they were 14-years-old, it gets emotional. If I talk about, I'd probably start crying."

Lavdiotis, who had stints at Piedmont, Lowell and Miramonte before landing at the Novato school in the spring of 2024, teared up often as his team summed up a dreamy run and ultimate championship.

Known as a football school — with back-to-back state titles starting in 2022 — many of these Mustangs played together as CYO stars. They didn't have a ton to show for it until Lavdiotis showed up.

"He's been like a father figure to a lot of us," Miller said. "We always had great scouting reports, great plans of attack. It's been amazing."

Especially for 6-3, 230-pound Young, who made 7 of 9 shots and added two blocks. He decided at the last minute to just join the team for his senior year, one of eight 12th graders on the team. He'll play football next season at American River College.

“I didn’t pick up a basketball for nearly 13 months,” he said. “I wasn’t getting much playing time and I was frustrated and I had a serious talk with the coaches. Coming back to play basketball this season is the best decision I could have made.”

D5 girls: Woodland Christian 63, Laguna Hills 30

Winning 20 games is a "fantastic" accomplishment, said Woodland Christian coach Shiloh Sorbello. Winning 30 is "incredible." But winning 33 (against 3 defeats)? And a second straight state Division 5 championship?

"It's a blessing," he said.

High school girls basketball — Woodland Christian poses after its second straight state D5 girls basketball title at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on March 13, 2026 | Photo courtesy of CIF

Especially when your daughters are the star players, not that Sorbello harped on it. It was more about the team's road — winning 28 of 29 to finish the season — their friendships, hard work and all-around skills and abilities. Almost all are either two- and three-sport athletes.

On Friday, they got multiple contributions from Siena Sorbello (21 points, six rebounds, 10 of 16 shooting), freshman point guard Sofia Sorbell (seven points, 13 assists, six steals) and Bailee Broward (17 points, 10 rebounds) in a wire-to-wire victory that was essentially over by halftime when the Cardinals led 33-11.

Woodland Christian (33-3) forced 28 turnovers. Marisol Bahena had nine points in 12 minutes and Keira McDermott and Cameron McDermott each had six steals for Laguna Hills (21-13).

D3 boys: Cornerstone Christian 74, Birmingham 64

Even though its piled up 248 wins over the last 10 seasons (not counting COVID), the Cougars referenced themselves as a "start-up."

Cornerstone certainly started quickly and never let its foot off the gas Friday with a first CIF State title with a thorough 10-point win over a battling Birmingham team that made it relatively close in the fourth quarter with a 28-point explosion.

Birmingham (22-8), also making its first state finals, from the LA City Section, got 17 points from Takeio Phillips, 16 by X'zavion McKay and 12 by Carles Eleri.

Benjamin Lukacs made 11 of 14 shots on the big NBA Arena and scored a game-high 26 points, James Perry added 16 points, eight rebounds and six blocks and Amari Woodcard contributed 12 as the Cougars finished the season 29-8.

A school of just 175 students from Antioch in Eastern Contra Costa County, won the region's first state title by shooting 52% from the field (30 of 57), including 53% on three-pointers, incuding 4 of 6 by Woodard.

"I've worked on my shooting countless hours, into the late night," Woodard said. "It's just muscle memory."

Fourth-year head coach Michael Thomasson said the school and program's togetherness is what keyed the historic title. On the back of all 18 jerseys was the word "family."

“Everybody contributed in their own way," he said. "And this is the end result, state champions.”

Said Birmingham coach Nick Halic,: "We made history. No boys or girls team from Birminham had made it this far. Everything we did to get to this point is because of them. We didn't go away today. We showed flashes of who we are. It just wasn't quite enough."

D3 girls: El Dorado 42, Valley Christian 40

El Dorado of Placentia needed just one stop and considering defense is what its head coach Matthew Raya, it wasn't surprising the Golden Hawks got it, and with it, their first state title.

Delaney Shiring, a 5-10 senior guard, had 15 points but it was the defense on Kenedi Nomura, who had carried Valley Christian the second half, that saved the day.

With a chance to tie or take the lead and 20 seconds left, Nomura, who at one point scored 16 straight points for the Warriors (16-16), was double teamed, forcing a turnover with 1.8 ticks left. Nomura finished with a game-high 18 points, but while she was 8 of 15 from the floor, the rest of the Warriors were a combined 9 of 32.

All led to the 24th win of the season for El Dorado and a first state title. Riley Morikawa and Karis Wu combined for 16 points for the Golden Hawks (24-14).

"The defense stepped up," Raya said. "It's been a heck of a long journey and I couldn't ask for anything more."

A three-pointer by Shiring with the shot clock running down in the fourth quarter proved to be the key dagger.

"I didn't think it was going in," she said. "It all happened sort of in slow mothion. I just tried to get the shot up as soon as I could."

Lizzy Rodrigues made two three-pointers for Valley Christian, the second which cut the lead to 39-38 with less than two minutes left. But despite another layup from Anya Bannarbie (seven points, seven rebounds), the Warriors came up just short.

Considering they were at 6-10 and 9-15 on the season, it was a historic run for Valley Christian.

"It was a great high school basketball game and neither team deserved to lose," Valley Christian coach Chris McSwain said. "We play in one of the toughest leagues in the state, and considering how far we came, when we look back, we'll reflect on what an amazing season and experience this has been. This team just never gave up."