The Serra Cavaliers Girls and View Park Knights Boys basketball teams will be traveling to Sacramento to battle for the CIF State Championship. Serra will battle the Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep (SHCP) Fightin’ Irish on Friday at 6P.M. PST and View Park will battle the Stuart Hall Knights on Friday at noon.
The championship games will be held at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Both opponents are schools in San Francisco, CA.
Serra is ranked seventh in California and 26th in the nation with a 24-8 overall record. In tournament play, the Cavaliers clashed against SoCal powerhouse Harvard-Westlake and quelled Etiwanda in an overtime thriller and Bishop Gorman of Nevada.
The Cavaliers finished second in the Del Rey League with 6-2 record, they only team in the league that defeated Bishop Montgomery. Among the Cavaliers is seniors Cheyenne Givens who averages 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and Ivori Scott who makes 4.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Serra competed in the Southern Section Open division tournament, Harvard-Westlake forced the Cavaliers into the Consolation tournament. After defeating Sierra Canyon 74-68, Serra lost to Bishop Montgomery in the Consolation final.
In order to reach the state championship, Serra defeated Alemany, Sierra Canyon and Ribet Academy.
View Park had a competitive season, participating in the Dwan Hurt Holiday Classic and the Rancho Mirage Holiday Invitational. The Knights came in second place in the Coliseum league, defeating King/Drew and Crenshaw during this season.
According to View Park head coach Deon Colemen mentioned how sophomore forward De’Shawn Johnson makes at least three blocks a game and how senior guard Kobe Storrs brings a strong defensive effort.
“It’s been a journey, it’s been full of excitement the whole way,” said Colemen. “Just trying to get the kids to buy in and respond and they just want to do a good job.”
In order to reach the State title match, View Park vanquished King/Drew 48-38 in the Regional Semifinals. The Knights also defeated Lompoc, and Bakersfield Christian in the regionals. Reaching the State championship is a great opportunity to avenge themselves from losing to University 67-62 in the City Section Semifinals.
To stream the action of the CIF State competitions, visit www.myspectrumsports.com/cif on March 23-24 and check the CIF State Websites for the schedule of games.
