Saints Make History: St. Augustine's B2B Open titles headlines Championship Weekend

St. Augustine became the first team since the advent of the Open Division to win consecutive Open Division championships, cementing their legacy as one of the best teams in section history.

And they did it in the fashion we've come to expect: dominant.

The Saints defeated Montgomery 85-53 in front of a sellout crowd at Cathedral Catholic's Claver Center in a game that was not particularly close after the first few minutes of the first quarter.

The Aztecs opened with a 9-3 lead halfway through the first after a 9-0 run. St. Augustine responded with a 9-0 run of its own to close the quarter with a 21-11 lead. From there, they took a 17-point halftime lead and the younger Aztecs couldn't keep pace.

Lolo Rudolph nearly notched a triple double with 17 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds, Jurian Dixon led the Saints with 18 points, and Vincent Ricchiuti added 12 on four made three-pointers.

For the Saints, the win marked its 35th consecutive win against San Diego competition, a streak that started Jan. 4 with a 97-56 win over Madison following a 69-68 loss to Grossmont to end the 2021 Holiday Classic tournament.

Montgomery, which will return four of its five starters and 7 of its 9 top contributors next season, was led by sophomore JJ Sanchez with 17 points and fellow sophomore Xair Mendez with 16.

CIF D1 Championship: Torreys control rematch against Mission Bay

Earlier in the season, La Jolla Country Day endured a three-game stretch in which it lost to Del Norte and Mission Bay in the Bucs Thanksgiving Classic.

Last week, the Torreys flipped the script on both teams, en route to the CIF Division 1 championship.

The third-seeded Torreys defeated the two-seed Nighthawks Wednesday in a double OT thriller, before exacting revenge on Mission Bay in the D1 title game in a 63-56 victory

It was an impressive victory as the Torreys led virtually wire to wire and repelled one of the best single-game performances of championship week, as senior Angelo Gil scored a game-high 34 points in what turned out to be his final high-school game.

La Jolla Country Day's defense neutralized the Buccaneers junior duo of Charlie Hutchison and Gavin Girouard, holding them to a combined 15 points.

The Torreys got timely baskets from sophomore shooting guard Ely Elegado, who led them with 20 points.

CIF D2 Championship: Lincoln outlasts Otay Ranch

The second-seeded Hornets avenged one of its two losses on the year, defeating Otay Ranch 59-54 to win the program's first basketball section championship since 2011.

The Hornets overcame a four-point deficit in the game's final four minutes, outscoring the Mustangs 16-7 down the stretch. The Mustangs took a 47-43 lead after Lincoln was assessed a technical foul and a personal foul on what turned into a six-point possession for Otay Ranch with 4:21 left.

Lincoln was led by underrated senior guard Jamier Sykes, who scored 18 points. Junior wing Kyelin King and guard Derrion Manson each scored 14.

Senior Elijah Newsome scored 17 points to lead Otay Ranch.

CIF D3 Championship: Victory Christian survives late run by Ramona

Victory Christian returned to the same gym where it was routed in the D4 championship game a year ago, and this time emerged with a Division 3 championship.

But they had to sweat out the game's final 8 minutes, as Ramona cut the Knight's 17-point fourth-quarter lead to 3 at 64-61 with 2:51 remaining.

But it was freshman Jayden Gray, who tied for game-high honors with 27 points, who sealed the win for the Knights down the stretch, hitting critical baskets to fuel the Knights to a 72-67 win.

Junior guard Derek Edmond scored 23 points for Victory Christian, which won its first title since 2015, when the school was called Chula Vista Lutheran.

Ramona's dynamic duo of junior wing Chase Newman and senior guard Dalton Norvell scored a combined 50 points to lead the Bulldogs.

CIF Division 4 Championship: Imperial wins first title in CIF history

The road to a CIF championship has been long and winding for Imperial High School, which opened nearly 43 years ago in 1980 and last appeared in a championship game in 1990.

But the Tigers ended that drought with a decisive 68-56 win over San Pasqual, the eight seed that was seeking its second CIF crown in four years.

Junior star forward David Scariano led the Tigers with 20 points despite being saddled with foul trouble. Fellow junior forward Jared Nixon added 18 points and 8 rebounds.

Cristian Zamora, the Eagles four-year starter, led the team with 17 points.

CIF Division 5 Championship: Classical Academy goes from Eight to Great in 3OT thriller

After beating two higher seeded teams in a row to make it to the D5 title game, Classical Academy seemed to run out of magic, falling behind by 17 points in the third quarter to 6th seeded Santana.

Then, the Caimans caught fire.

Led by their hot shooting trio of Presley Bruskotter, Isaac Davis and Brody Chapman, Classical charged back to tie the game at the end of regulation at 58 on Davis' buzzer-beating three.

From there, the Caimans outlasted the Sultans to take an 83-78 triple overtime win for the program's second title in four years.

Presley Bruskotter and Isaac Davis led the team with 21 and 20 points, respectively.