Citrus Starts Fast; Advances to the State Tournament Semifinals

Visalia, Calif. - With West Valley's appearance in the 2026 3C2A State Basketball Championship at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, the Vikings, the north's #3 seed, have made five straight state championship tournaments. However, West Valley only has a 2024 title to show for it when the Vikings ran the table, finishing 33-0; only the fourth team to accomplish such a feat.

The state tournament also hasn't been very welcoming for Citrus either. The Owls, the south's #2 seed team for the second consecutive season, are making their second consecutive trip to the state finals, and head coach Brett Lauer is making his fourth, two as a head coach. The Owls only state title came in 2008, prior to Lauer's arrival.

Tonight, the two squared off in a quarterfinal game, fighting for the right to take on San Francisco City, the defending state champions, on Saturday at 7 pm.

In the end, Citrus will advance after scoring an 84-54 victory over West Valley.

For Citrus, the semifinal game will be a rematch from last year's semifinal that saw the Rams clip the Owls wings. Earlier this year, West Valley (24-7) handed San Francisco City its lone loss, 64-56, on December 18 at San Joaquin Delta's Tristan Hill Holiday Tournament. West Valley also has a loss to the Rams, 58-55, on November 1.

Citrus (30-1) came into the game with the state's most explosive offense, averaging 104 points a game. The Owls hadn't been held under 80 points all season. With the win, Citrus carries a 25-game win streak into the semifinals. The Owls only loss was on November 21 to Fullerton, 116-113, in double overtime.

West Valley was packing the state's best defensive unit, allowing just 57.2 points a contest. The Vikings had only allowed 81 points or more once this season. Unfortunately, Citrus didn't care.

Both teams tried to establish their style of play early. While Citrus pushed the ball, West Valley tried to be more methodical. Citrus used a full-court press to try and disrupt the Vikings' offensive, and it worked as West Valley finished the half with double digit turnovers.

"I am really proud with how tough our guys were tonight," Lauer said. "West Valley prides itself on toughness, but we did a good job keeping our composure in a really big moments. We wanted to establish a high pace tonight. And, West Valley I think had the same idea. They had a pretty good plan, I think, but we were able to establish our plan a bit more."

It didn't long for Citrus to dictate to get rolling offensively. With six minutes remaining, Citrus had opened a seven point lead at 30-23. With four minutes left, Citrus had built its first double-digit lead at 34-23. By halftime, Citrus had assembled a 44-26 lead.

West Valley had the exact same number of turnovers (11) and field goals. The Vikings shot 37 percent from the floor (11 of 29) and 25 percent from the three-point line (3 of 12). Meanwhile, Citrus turned West Valley's turnovers into 12 points while shooting 50 percent from the floor (12 of 24) and 56 percent beyond the arch (5 of 9).

In the second half, Citrus started to pull away quickly, opening a 24-point lead after four minutes. With 13 minutes left, Citrus held a 59-32 lead. With seven minutes left the lead was 29. The Owls' largest lead was 33 with less than five minutes left.

Citrus had four players score in double figures; three had 16 points — Amiri Meadows, Amiri Meadows, Dev Hamilton. Leo Ricketts, the south's Player of the Year, finished with 11. West Valley was led by CJ Willenborg who had 16 points.

Release by Robert Schmidt, 3C2A Championship SID