Playoffs have arrived for CIF winter sports, and several teams from La Jolla High School, La Jolla Country Day School and The Bishop’s School are in play.
Here’s a look at local teams’ regular-season performance and playoff status.
Girls water polo
The Bishop’s School
After setting a goal that coach Doug Peabody said was to “play their best water polo at the end of the season,” the top-seeded Knights routed No. 8 Cathedral Catholic 22-2 in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division quarterfinals Feb. 11 at the Coggan Family Aquatic Complex on the La Jolla High campus.
“They have the feeling that this is where they are supposed to be,” Peabody said as Bishop’s aims for its eighth consecutive Open Division championship. “We have worked super hard together all season.”
Bishop’s is scheduled to take on No. 5 El Camino at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, in the Open Division semifinals at the Coggan pool.
Bishop’s and La Jolla High clear girls water polo Open Division quarterfinals
La Jolla High School
Third-seeded La Jolla defeated No. 6 Torrey Pines 20-13 in the Open Division quarterfinals Feb. 11.
Vikings coach Tom Atwell said the players, with a range of ages and experience levels, meshed well this season.
“We have five seniors and our goalie is a four-year starter … so we have a really talented group,” said Atwell, who added that some of the top scorers are juniors. “We have senior leadership and younger kids. We have some freshmen that have come in and been impact players right away. It’s been a fun year.”
La Jolla is set to face No. 2 Valhalla in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Coggan complex.
Boys basketball
Bishop’s
Though Bishop’s held a 2-8 record in Coastal League play, the Knights finished 17-11 overall and head coach Nick Levine said the team is playing its best basketball of the season.
“You look at where we were from the summer and the fall to kind of how connected we are now and showing signs of playing some really good basketball,” Levine said. “I think it’s great for us to have these games where we’re game-planning and going into a really competitive environment. And I think the value of that is that it sets you up for postseason play.”
The Knights go into the CIF San Diego Section Division II playoffs as the 10th seed, opening on the road against No. 7 Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18.
La Jolla Country Day
The Torreys had an up-and-down regular season with a 12-15 overall record and 5-5 in the Coastal League.
Coach Pat Casey said they had one of the toughest schedules in San Diego and that their roster consisted of mostly sophomores and freshmen besides senior Wyatt Tilson, who posted 20.8 points per game and a 50% field goal percentage.
Country Day enters the Division I playoffs as the 10th seed and will open on the road at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 against No. 7 Mission Hills.
Girls basketball
La Jolla High
The Vikings struggled in the regular season with an 8-20 record, though they were a more favorable 4-6 in Eastern League play.
Junior Soila Chadwick posted a team-leading 13.7 points per game and averaged 5.3 rebounds, while junior AJ Jacoby posted a 41% field goal percentage with 9.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per game.
As the lowest-seeded team of 16 in the Division II playoffs, La Jolla will face top-seeded La Costa Canyon on the road at 7 p.m. Feb. 17.
Bishop’s
The Knights, who finished the season 12-12 overall and 2-3 in Coastal League play, are the fifth-seeded team in the Division I postseason tournament.
They will begin the playoffs hosting No. 12 Oceanside at 7 p.m. Feb. 17.
The Bishop’s School girls basketball team is pictured with head coach Paris Johnson. (Dune Media)
Throughout the season, coach Paris Johnson praised the girls’ growth and resilience.
“We’ve faced some tough competition, but our players have continued to compete, improve and support one another,” Johnson said. “What has stood out most is our team’s chemistry and willingness to embrace their roles. We’ve seen strong defensive effort, unselfish ball movement and great leadership from both our upperclassmen and younger players. The group has continued to stay positive and coachable, which has helped us develop as the season has progressed.”
La Jolla Country Day
With coach Terri Bamford’s leadership and a well-regarded cast of players, the Torreys, a perennial power in girls basketball, are riding a hot streak as they prepare for the playoffs.
La Jolla Country Day’s Safiyah Sugapong dribbles against Francis Parker’s Gigi Ong during a game Feb. 6. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“Generally speaking, our team has performed very well this year, and we feel like we’re peaking at exactly the right time,” Bamford said. “We started the season 8-1 against a very challenging schedule that tested us early. While we dropped a few games we felt we could have won, those moments became valuable learning experiences and helped us grow.
“What has really stood out is our resilience and continued improvement. The team has stayed focused, trusted the process and committed to getting better every day.”
Country Day finished the regular season with a 17-10 overall record and was first in the Coastal League at 5-1.
That was good for the fifth seed in the Open Division playoffs, which will pit the Torreys against No. 4 Mission Hills of San Marcos on the road at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20.
Girls soccer
Bishop’s
The girls team finished the regular season 12-3-1 and went undefeated (8-0) in the Pacific League.
Coach Conor McFadden said the Knights are led by sophomore Sophia Victor, who scored 10 goals and collected eight assists for the season, and freshman Mojo Petrucci, who had 12 goals and six assists.
Bishop’s enters the Division III playoffs as the second seed at home against No. 15 CVLCC of San Diego at 5 p.m. Feb. 18.
La Jolla Country Day
The Torreys enter the playoffs as the No. 11 seed in Division III after posting an 8-6-2 record in the regular season.
They will open on the road against No. 6 Montgomery at 5 p.m. Feb. 18.
La Jolla High
The Vikings roared to a 14-1 overall finish and an 8-0 mark in league play.
The team enters the Division II tournament as the No. 2 seed and will open at home against No. 15 San Diego High at 6 p.m. Feb. 18.
Boys soccer
Bishop’s
The Bishop’s boys enter the Division IV playoffs as the top seed after a 12-2-2 regular season, punctuated by a 10-0 mark in the Pacific League.
Among the team’s standout players, according to coach Joey Yusunas, are Gustav Westlake, who had 16 goals and five assists, and Marcos Montoya, who had seven goals and 16 assists.
The Knights open the postseason at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at home vs. No. 16 Vincent Memorial of Calexico.
La Jolla Country Day
Country Day hopes to ride a 12-5-2 regular-season record and an 8-1-1 Coastal League mark to postseason success in Division II, where the Torreys will begin the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, hosting No. 10 Patrick Henry at 5 p.m. Feb. 17.
“This group of seniors are very special and have won three league championships and one CIF championship during their four-year career,” said Torreys coach Corbin Prychun.
They include Ben Chodorow and Anson Zettle, as well as other standouts including Michael Schwartz, who scored 13 goals and posted six assists, Aidan DesRosiers-Kutchuk, who had 12 goals and three assists, and Jack DeJarnette, who had seven goals and eight assists.
La Jolla High
The Vikings finished the regular season 8-2-5 overall and 3-1-4 in the City League.
They enter the Division IV tournament as the third seed and will face No. 14 Valley Center at home at 6 p.m. Feb. 17. ♦