Both Sage Hill girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams are excited about this upcoming winter season. Last year, the Lightning girls’ team placed 5th in their division in the CIF-SS playoffs. While the varsity boys’ team didn’t place last year, they hope to rebound from this and are coming in with some strong players.

“We are a very young team this year but with several returning players we are excited to see how things play out…We are in a very tough league this year and are going to put forth the best effort on making it to CIF again,” girls’ varsity head coach Kerwin Walters said.

After last year’s season, the girls’ team was placed in a higher, tougher division, but Coach Walters anticipates a successful season and is ready to fuse everyone’s strengths into a powerful team.

“Things are going really well. The girls have a really positive attitude this year and they’re working really hard! We have a lot of leadership this year too so it’ll be fun to see how this season goes,” senior Nadia Akbari said.

This is Akbari’s last year playing for Lighting basketball, and she is looking forward to a great season and lasting friendships.

Sage Hill has two very capable and passionate teams, with the girls eager to make it to CIF again and the boys hoping to make Lightning history by winning league.  

“We have been playing together as a unit very well, which has allowed us to compete with very talented teams. I am looking forward to the season because I believe that we have a very good chance at winning league, which has never been done before by Sage’s boys’ basketball team, and making a deep playoff run,” junior captain Ryan Hosseinzadeh said.

Hosseinzadeh is enthusiastic and confident about the upcoming season and is ready to defeat the rest of the league, go to into playoffs, and win the championship for Sage Hill which has never been done before.

Practicing for two hours every day, the dedicated players are strengthening their mind and their skills set. In addition, they condition in order to get stronger and improve. Both teams are diverse in age with many freshmen on the girls’ team, so the upperclassmen can pass down their skills and experience to the lower classmen.

With lots of experience, both coaches are qualified and excited to lead their team into the CIF-SS playoffs.