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San Juan Hills boys basketball has come a long way to get to regional final

March 10, 2026

San Juan Hills’ boys basketball team finished third in the five-team South Coast League and was not included in the final Orange County Top 25 rankings.

Yet, San Juan Hills is the only Orange County boys team that will be playing in a CIF Southern California Regional championship game.

The Stallions (20-14) will play at Tulare Union (31-4) on Tuesday in the CIF Southern California Regional Division IV championship game Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The winner advances to the CIF State Division IV final that will be played in Sacramento at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. The state final is Saturday at noon against Half Moon Bay or Sacred Heart Prep, which are meeting in the Northern Division Regional final.

It’s a long trip to Tulare but the Stallions’ season has been one of endurance.

San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou said he has never seen so many injuries on one of his team’s since he became Stallions coach 11 years ago. Going into their 35th game of the season, the Stallions have not had a game in which every player on their roster was healthy enough to play.

“At one point this season we had only seven guys available for two games, I think,” Efstathiou said. “So guys who were normally not playing got to play a lot.”

Senior guard Cameron Goltara has gone through some challenges. Last season he suffered a dislocated kneecap. He was able to return five weeks later after extensive physical therapy. This season he incurred an ankle injury, rehabbed it for three weeks so he could resume playing and two weeks upon his return Goltara dislocated the same kneecap in practice.

Goltara is playing in the playoffs, but with limited mobility.

Senior guard Garrett Brehmer injured an ankle during the season opener and missed the next month of the season. Oliver Sandor, a 6-8 senior, has missed games because of an ankle injury.

Leading scorer Rocco Jensen missed a few games because of an ankle injury, too. Kamran Azia, an excellent 3-point shooter, broke a foot, and another starter, Nick Francik, is out because of a herniated disc.

Brehmer said the Stallions finally are able to show what kind of team they have.

“All the pieces have come together,” Brehmer said. “We still have the same mentality that we’ve had all year. As guys came back and we got more healthy as a team, that gave us a big push and helped us fix some things that we were struggling with earlier.”

Efstathiou said the Stallions feel that they have something to prove, that they are a team better than their record during the regular season (14-13) indicated.

“They’re in this mode that the team record is reflective of what they are,” Efstathiou said.

Senior guards Jensen and Brehmer are team co-captains. Jensen is the leading scorer, at 21 points a game, and Brehmer is the on-court leader.

“Garrett’s like having another coach on the court,” Efstathiou said. “The other night (against Granada Hills Charter) Rocco was getting face guarded and couldn’t score because he wasn’t getting the ball. Rocco came up to me during the game and said, ‘I don’t care if I don’t score a single point, so I will try to get every rebound.’”

The Regionals can offer to teams that lost in their section playoffs a new opportunity for glory. Jensen said San Juan Hills is doing its best to take advantage of it.

“We’ve got one last chance to make some history for our school,” Jensen said. “One last shot to to win a championship.”

San Juan Hills’ players, coaches and families left Monday to get to Tulare. That’s a drive of 228 miles.

Of course, it is nearly impossible to accurately predict the amount of time required for a Southern California trip of that distance. Thus, San Juan Hills players, coaches and families departed Monday. San Juan Hills has a practice stop at Bakersfield Christian before continuing the Tulare trek.

San Juan Hills has come a long way in the CIF playoffs. A long drive fits the theme.

Orange County Register

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San Juan Hills boys basketball has come a long way to get to regional final

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