West Ranch High senior Noah Douphner said he remembers watching his brother, Owen, capture a CIF Southern Section title when he was playing volleyball for Hart High.
And when Owen got his commemorative ring, Noah, two years younger, admitted to sneaking into his brother’s room to try it on.
On Tuesday, Noah and the rest of the 2024 West Ranch Wildcats boys’ volleyball team received rings of their own during halftime of the boys’ basketball game at West Ranch High, celebrating its Southern Section Division 4 championship victory over rival Valencia.
“Now that I have one of my own, it’s definitely surreal,” Noah said. “It looks even better than his. I think it’s perfect. It couldn’t be any better.”
West Ranch defeated Valencia in a sweep at College of the Canyons to claim last season’s title.
The Wildcats also earned the Southern Section Academic Award, given to the team with the highest collective grade point average among schools with at least 1,500 students. West Ranch’s team had a 3.80 GPA.
Each ring, colored gold on top with silver on the sides, is personalized with the player’s name and number, with the West Ranch logo on top.
Players lined up on the basketball court as head coach Brandon Johnson announced the names to applause from the fans in attendance.
“Seeing the excitement on the boys’ faces was the most important part,” Johnson said. “They worked very, very hard to get to that point. They deserve the recognition, and so now it’s fun to just have a memento that they get to keep and cherish, hopefully, for the rest of their lives.”
West Ranch senior Logan Sanchez said the Wildcats have been working to find success again this season, though with a few new faces.
“Our coach said in practice the other day, we’re not the same team that won the CIF last year, so we have a lot of work to do and a long way to go before we can get to that point of winning it again,” Sanchez said.
Both Noah and Sanchez said they will likely put their rings in a display case in their rooms, while Johnson said his will likely go on his office desk. But before that, he plans to show off his bling.
“I’ll be wearing this a lot more than I probably should,” Johnson said. “If my wife had any say, I wouldn’t be wearing this much at all. But I’ll be wearing it quite often, that’s for sure.”
