Paloma Valley athletics enjoying a banner winter season

Sarah Freeman scored 5 goals in the league champion Paloma Valley girls water polo team's win on Wednesday. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Coaches, athletes, parents and virtually anyone who follows Paloma Valley High School sports are celebrating something very special this week.

It is rare to see a high school send all seven winter sports varsity teams to the CIF playoffs. It's even more rare to have five of the seven win league championships. But that is the case at Paloma Valley as the teams head into postseason competition.

The string of successes began with the boys and girls wrestling teams. Each team went undefeated in Ivy League competition and their wrestlers have high expectations for the CIF Southern Section finals Feb. 8-9. But that was only the beginning.

On Wednesday, three other Wildcat teams wrapped up league titles. The girls basketball team beat Arlington, 61-30, to finish 13-1 and win the Sunbelt League championship. This is a team that was 1-9 in league play and 6-20 overall a year ago. This year, the Wildcats are 18-9 as they await the announcement on Sunday of their first-round playoff opponent.

That same day, the boys soccer team won the Sunbelt League title for the second straight year, defeating JW North 2-1 to win a close league race. Coach Ramon Benz's team finished 5-1-2 in league and is 10-6-4 overall as the Wildcats await Saturday's playoff pairings announcement.

The girls basketball team celebrated a league championship by cutting down the nets on Wednesday.

And at about the same time, the girls water polo team was wrapping up a perfect Sunbelt League season, beating Canyon Springs 8-0 in their home pool at the Drop Zone water park in Perris. In just its fifth year of existence, the team recorded an 11-0 league record and is 16-7 heading into the playoffs. Postseason match-ups will be announced on Saturday.

And on top of all that, the Paloma Valley girls soccer team -- the CIF-SS champion a year ago -- finished just one game out of first place in the Ivy League and is headed to the playoffs with an 11-4-1 overall record. Also headed to the playoffs is the boys basketball team, which finished 6-6 in the Ivy League to take the league's No. 4 playoff berth.

How did all this happen? Athletic director Ryan Sharp credits a variety of factors. This is the first year of a new alignment of area teams in the Raincross Conference, which includes the Ivy, Sunbelt and Inland Valley Leagues. Unlike past years, when teams competed in the Sunbelt League in all sports, some now compete in the highest-ranked Ivy League, while many others compete in the Sunbelt League, considered the middle of the three leagues in terms of overall strength of competition.

The changes have made league play more competitive in many ways. Some Wildcat teams have been asked to compete at a higher level in the past, but all have excelled. In addition, coaching stability has been a major factor. These factors contribute to the development of standout athletes, who certainly are showcasing their skills this winter.

"All of this is evidence that the new conference they put together is working," said Sharp, referring to several close league races. "This has been a special sports season. I'd like to get to the point where I could feel comfortable saying we have the highest [combined] winning percentage in the county.

"Another thing is that we have a lot of on-campus coaches. I'd like to keep that trend going. It's better for a sports program when the coach can be on campus all day and interact with the athletes."

The Paloma Valley High boys wrestling team finished unbeaten in Ivy League competition.

The Wildcats girls wrestling team had eight champions in the Raincross Conference finals.

There is no denying the job coaches Luis Robles and Jonathan Briggs have done with the wrestling program. The boys have dominated against the toughest of competitors in the Ivy League. They have a quality roster that includes 120-pounder Savion Dixon, one of the top ranked wrestlers at his weight in the state.

Girls wrestling has grown from one or two girls who competed with the boys team to a separate full girls roster. Because some schools are still developing full rosters, all 14 schools in the Raincross Conference compete together as a league. In their last league match, the Paloma Valley girls scored a perfect 84-0 victory over Temescal Canyon. Then in the Raincross Conference finals, eight Wildcat wrestlers won championships and four others were runner-up.

After the CIF-SS finals Feb. 9, those who advance on both the girls and boys side will compete in the state meet Feb. 21-23 in Bakersfield.

Paloma Valley didn't have girls or boys water polo teams until five years ago because the Wildcats didn't have a campus pool. They still don't, but an arrangement with the County has allowed Paloma and Heritage to use the Drop Zone pool for water polo matches and swim meets. Slowly, the programs have developed. Sharp's wife Lisa, a former member of the U.S. women's national water polo team, served as head coach for a season before working last year with Joe Ellett, who is now the head coach.

"It's tough to compete against teams when you don't have a pool to practice in at all times," Sharp said. "That program has come a long way."

Sarah Freeman scored 5 goals, made 3 steals and had 2 assists in Wednesday's league championship game. Megan Freeman contributed to the victory with 8 field blocks in goal in the shutout. Lorie Stuart finished with 5 steals and an assist and Kenzy Handal had 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 field blocks. The defense played so well, the shot clock expired without a shot attempt by the opposition 7 times, Ellett said.

The girls water polo team celebrated the school's first league championship.

The girls basketball team had won only one league title in its history, and that was 22 years ago. The Wildcats, coached by Matt Dale, have won 12 straight games. They are led by sophomore Mya Pierfax, who averages 21.4 points per game; Trinitee Bradley, who averages 13.0 ppg; Briann Willich, who averages 9.0 ppg; and Alejandra Espinoza, who is the team's leading rebounder at 8.3 per game.

"The girls program traditionally has not had a lot of success, but we had high hopes for them this year," Sharp said. "It's been a lot of fun watching them."

The boys soccer team is headed to the playoffs under a full head of steam after Wednesday's one-goal victory. The winning goal was scored by winger Daniel Gonzalez, who followed up his original shot to chip in the rebound. The other goal came when winger Chino Rivera scored on a header off a pass from Alex Cisneros on a back-door sprint.

The boys soccer team won its second consecutive league title this year.

And just because the girls soccer team finished one game behind Riverside Poly in the Ivy League doesn't mean the Wildcats will be any less of a threat in the postseason. After tying Poly 1-1 on Jan. 24, Paloma finished the regular season with a 6-0 win over Temescal Canyon and appears primed for the playoffs.

"Overall, we have played tougher teams this season," coach Carlos Alfaro said about the league change. "Nicole Dallin missed a few game due to injury, and it took her a while to get back to her old self. But the last couple of games, she has looked like her old self.

"Alyssa Moore leads our team in scoring with 17 goals and is unstoppable. It seems like last year everything went our way, but not this year. We have four losses and we should have won three of those games; we lost them in the second half.

"Right now we are playing very well and ready to win it again. We are in Division 3 this year and have been ranked in the top 3 all season. I believe we can win CIF again. I also believe our team is stronger this season. We are much faster than most teams."

The Wildcats girls soccer team finished one game out of first place and has an 11-4-1 overall record.

There might be no greater indication that this is a magical season for Paloma Valley teams than the way in which the boys basketball team got into the playoffs as the Ivy League's fourth and final postseason entry.

Coach Craig Anderson's team lost its final regular-season game to Riverside Poly, 54-48. But the Wildcats still finished fourth in the league at 6-6, one game ahead of Temescal Canyon. If Paloma had lost one more league game, it would've tied with a Temescal Canyon team that it split two games with this year. A one-game playoff would've been necessary to determine the league's final playoff entry.

But if you'll recall the game before that, Paloma Valley beat second-place Notre Dame on a half-court shot at the buzzer by sophomore guard Tyson Ramsey. Was it that shot that put the Wildcats into the playoffs? One could certainly make that argument.

"Things like this season help the programs grow and get better, and the athletes grow in confidence," Sharp said. "I see the players taking chances they wouldn't have before.

"[Thursday] I walked into the gym when the boys were practicing. Tyson is not a big kid (5-foot-10), but he was trying dunks and he almost put one in."

And actually, there was an eighth Paloma Valley varsity team competing this winter. Competitive cheer is now recognized as a CIF sport, and the first CIF championships were held recently. Paloma Valley finished third in its division.

And all this happened just a couple months after the girls volleyball team's best season ever, which included an appearance in the CIF-SS finals and advancement to the third round of the state tournament.

What's the next success story in Paloma Valley athletics? Stay tuned.

Tyson Ramsey's half-court buzzer beater Jan. 28 helped put the boys basketball team into the CIF playoffs.